Kyle Stowers and a six-run 12th carry Marlins past Cubs in 8-2 marathon at Wrigley

A tight game until one inning changed everything

Miami’s first two runs arrived in economical fashion. Agustín Ramírez opened the scoring in the fourth with a single to center that brought home Kyle Stowers, and Stowers added the next run himself in the sixth with a solo homer to left-center. In a game that would eventually sprawl into the 12th, that modest 2-0 edge looked meaningful because both starting pitchers gave their clubs exactly the kind of platform a low-scoring game demands.

Janson Junk gave the Marlins five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out six. Shota Imanaga matched him for Chicago with five innings of his own, permitting one run and striking out seven. Neither lineup found much rhythm early, and that kept the middle innings feeling less like a buildup to a slugfest than a test of which side would finally cash a small opening.

The Cubs found theirs immediately after Stowers’ homer. Chicago tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, first when Michael Busch’s grounder created pressure that ended with Pete Crow-Armstrong scoring on an error by catcher Joe Mack, then when Ian Happ singled to right to score Seiya Suzuki. That sequence mattered because it erased Miami’s clean work to that point and reset the night as a bullpen grind rather than a Marlins-controlled game.

The 12th inning finally turned traffic into runs

For most of the night, both teams threatened more than they finished. Miami collected 11 hits, drew three walks and had three batters hit by pitches, yet stayed stuck on two runs through 11 innings. Chicago put seven hits and five walks on the board and still had only that sixth-inning burst to show for it. The stalemate lasted until the 12th, when the Marlins stopped leaving the door open.

Griffin Conine delivered the go-ahead hit, a single to left that scored Esteury Ruiz and only became official after an overturned call on Miami’s challenge. That broke the tie at 3-2, but the inning kept rolling. Jakob Marsee followed with a single to center that scored Conine, Stowers forced in another run with a walk, Javier Sanoja added an RBI single to right, and Mack finished the outburst with a two-run single to center.

What makes that inning especially punishing from the Cubs’ side is that their bullpen had done enough to extend the game before it cracked. Daniel Palencia, Ryan Rolison and Ryan Zeferjahn combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings to keep Chicago alive after Aaron Civale surrendered the Stowers homer. Then Caleb Thielbar and Edward Cabrera were charged with the collapse in the 12th, combining to allow all six Miami runs, five of them earned.

Our take: enough good pitching for Miami, too many empty at-bats for Chicago

The clearest reason Miami left with this result is that its pitching never stopped giving it chances. Nine Marlins pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts over 12 innings and allowed only one earned run. After Junk’s five scoreless frames, Eury Pérez struck out three in one spotless inning, Josh Ekness added two strikeouts in his inning, and Victor Vodnik closed with two more. Even with Cade Gibson’s rough sixth, the staff as a whole limited Chicago to seven hits and a .159 team batting average.

Stowers was the standout position player because he influenced the game at several points rather than in one burst. He went 2-for-4, scored three times, drove in two, homered, and later worked the bases-loaded walk that pushed the 12th inning further out of Chicago’s reach. Sanoja added two hits and an RBI, Mack drove in two despite the costly sixth-inning error, and Conine’s single was the swing that turned a tie into a Marlins lead for good.

For the Cubs, the improvement case is fairly plain. Crow-Armstrong reached four times with two hits and two walks, Suzuki had two hits, and Busch reached three times, so this was not a night without baserunners. It was a night without enough finishing: 17 strikeouts, only one credited RBI hit, and 29 runners left on base. Miami has its own cleanup item after striking out 14 times and stranding 23, but the Marlins at least found a late answer. Chicago kept creating chances and then letting the inning die on the vine, and over 12 innings that becomes the whole story.

Scoring moments

1. 4th Inning

   Ramírez singled to center, Stowers scored, Sanoja to second.

2. 6th Inning

   Stowers homered to left center (372 feet).

3. 6th Inning

   Busch grounded into fielder's choice to first, Crow-Armstrong scored on error by catcher Mack, Suzuki safe at third on error.

4. 6th Inning

   Happ singled to right, Suzuki scored, Busch to third.

5. 12th Inning

   Conine singled to left, Ruiz scored. Miami Marlins challenged: call on the field was overturned.

6. 12th Inning

   Marsee singled to center, Conine scored.

7. 12th Inning

   Stowers walked, Marsee scored, Lopez to second, Hernández to third.

8. 12th Inning

   Sanoja singled to right, Hernández scored, Stowers to second, Lopez to third.

9. 12th Inning

   Mack singled to center, Lopez scored and Stowers scored, Sanoja to second.