MIAMI -- For the second straight game, the Cubs used a sixth-inning outburst to turn the tide against the Marlins at loanDepot park. Their offensive eruption on Tuesday night, though, was different from the previous night’s.
First, because it led to a Cubs win, 14-1, after losing in walk-off fashion in the series opener. And second, because they doubled their sixth-inning output from Monday, tacking on eight runs in all, their highest output in one inning this season.
The eye-popping showing is a sample of the North Siders’ brilliance this season, and in the eyes of many, they possess one of the best offenses in baseball.
Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong kicked things off in the sixth with bases-loaded singles to put Chicago up, 3-1, following Kyle Tucker’s first-inning homer.
Nico Hoerner plated two more runs on a single to right, before a Justin Turner sacrifice fly gave Chicago a five-run advantage. Seiya Suzuki, who walked to start the extraordinary inning, put on its finishing touches, launching a Statcast-projected 405-foot homer to center for his 12th of the season.
“We had good momentum,” Suzuki said of the inning. “I wanted to continue that. I think the environment, the vibe that the team created there, I just wanted to continue it.”
“I thought we got a great at-bat to lead off the inning from Seiya,” manager Craig Counsell said.
“I thought Seiya, just drawing a walk -- and getting the two strikes and battling, and laying off some pitches -- was a big moment, and then we just kept the line moving. It wasn’t any huge hit, it was just keeping the line moving, really. So just a credit to the guys for doing it.”
On the mound, Jameson Taillon earned his third win of the season, throwing seven innings of one-run ball to cool the Marlins’ bats. Taillon gave up four hits, walked three and struck out two in the victory, which helped Chicago (29-20) extend its National League Central lead over St. Louis (27-22) to two games with the Cardinals’ 5-4 loss to the Tigers.
The team’s pitching has been middle-of-the-road from an earned runs and average against standpoint. But offensively, Chicago has shined.
The club’s 21 hits on Tuesday tied a high for the season, marking the third time the Cubs reached the mark. Meanwhile, Chicago is first in runs (291), third in stolen bases (61), OPS (.784) and slugging (.448).
Chicago’s offense dominated so much so Tuesday that Miami trotted out position player Javier Sanoja to pitch the ninth. However, the change in speed didn’t faze the Cubs: They nearly batted around in the inning, sending nine to the plate in a six-hit frame that netted five more runs.
It was the 42nd time that the Cubs scored at least three runs in an inning this season (they have done so five times in the past four games), the highest frequency through 49 games for Chicago since 1903. It’s also the 24th time it’s amassed at least four runs in an inning (the most through 49 games since 1887).
The offense is doing its damage both early in the count and late.
The Cubs own a .417 average (85-for-204) on the first pitch of at-bats, good for the highest in the Majors. Meanwhile, they lead the Majors in two-out extra-base hits (55) and have the second-most two-out RBIs (98). Three Cubs (Tucker, Crow-Armstrong, Hoerner) are hitting over .300 with two outs, more than any team MLB-wide.