Amaya adds to torrid stretch, makes history with 5-RBI game

MIAMI -- Two swings from Miguel Amaya accounted for five of the Cubs’ runs in their 8-7 loss to the Marlins Monday night at loanDepot park.

Unfortunately for the club, one swing from Jesús Sánchez ended their night in heartbreak, as Miami walked off Chicago to tie the MLB lead with six walk-off wins.

Nonetheless, Amaya was brilliant at the dish, tallying five RBIs for the second time this season. The milestone etched him and starting catcher Carson Kelly as the only pair of catching teammates to have multiple five-RBI games in a season since RBIs became official in 1920.

And while Kelly is listed ahead of Amaya on Chicago’s depth chart, the two have a nearly even split of games thus far. For Amaya, who’s played 25 games to Kelly’s 29, his focus is on cherishing the opportunities he gets behind the plate.

“Just enjoying the time when we’re in the lineup,” Amaya said of he and Kelly. “Taking good at-bats and moving runners whenever we’ve got to do that, bringing runs in and taking quality at-bats when we see those runners on bases.”

Amaya did just that on both of his pivotal hits Monday.

On the first, he was the beneficiary of some serendipity. The 26-year-old sat back on a first-pitch curveball from Marlins starter Edward Cabrera in the fourth inning, waiting for it to cross the heart of the plate, and lifted a high fly ball to left field. Left fielder Kyle Stowers gave chase to the warning track and leapt into the air in an acrobatic attempt to catch the ball. But it kicked off of his glove and into Miami’s bullpen, sending both Stowers and Cabrera to their knees in dejection.

Amaya lifted his right hand in the air as he rounded second base, celebrating the three-run homer that put Chicago up, 3-2.

“Just selecting good pitches that I can control and just trying to make some damage,” Amaya said of what’s worked for him of late. “That’s what I’ve been looking [for] early in the count, and I’ve been having good results.”

He went in Stowers’ direction again in the sixth, smoking a 106 mph double that just missed the left fielder’s diving lunge. It scored two of Chicago’s four runs in the inning, an emphatic response to a four-run output from Miami in the fifth.

“I’m proud of myself,” Amaya said. “[I can] help the team in the [offensive] part too, not just defensively, and be part of that potential lineup that’s in there everyday.”

Matt Shaw -- the club’s No. 1 prospect, who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day -- plated the team’s fourth run of the inning with a ground-rule double to right field in the following at-bat.

Three Cubs relievers -- Ryan Pressly, Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz -- stalled the Marlins’ bats until the ninth, when Miami scored two runs off closer Daniel Palencia via Sánchez’s triple.

Both Palencia and starting pitcher Ben Brown praised their catcher’s day at the plate.

“It feels great to see your teammates hitting the ball like that,” Palencia said. “I’ve played with Miggy since Double-A, so it feels great.”

“Miggy’s a brother to me,” Brown said. “We came up -- we were in Double-A together, one of my first friends when I got traded over here. Just watching him fly is awesome, and I’m really proud of him. I love throwing to him.”

Amaya, who’s in his third year in the Majors, is batting a career-high .287 with 25 hits, 25 RBIs, nine doubles and four home runs. He has 11 assists behind the plate, with a .995 fielding percentage.

The Cubs have remained fluid with their catching situation this season. But Amaya, who’s now 6-for-14 with 11 RBIs in situations with two-outs and runners in scoring position this season, is making it difficult for manager Craig Counsell to keep him out of the lineup. He’s driven in 11 runs in his past six games and is batting .400 (8-for-20) in that stretch.

“Two huge hits with men on base,” Counsell said. “I mean, Cabrera looked tough, right? It didn't look like we had much going on and it felt like we needed a big swing, and Miguel gave it to us. So that was a huge one. We put together a really good sixth inning, did some really good things, and he, obviously, capped it off with a big swing.”