Samardzija aims to bounce back against Marlins

Published February 05, 2015

Jeff Samardzija aims to bounce back from one of the worst starts of his career when the Chicago Cubs resume their three-game series against the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field.

Samardzija posted his only victory of the season May 26 at San Francisco, but then was dealt a 9-0 defeat at Milwaukee on Sunday. The right-hander allowed eight hits and eight runs over three innings. It marked the first time he failed to work at least five innings in a start this season.

In 13 career games (4 starts) against the Marlins, Samardzija is 2-1 with one save and a 5.46 ERA.

Lefty Randy Wolf makes his third start of the year for the Marlins. Wolf is coming off his first win, against Tampa Bay Monday when he yielded three hits and a run while fanning seven over six innings. He's 6-11 with a 3.53 ERA 25 starts against the Cubs.

Yesterday, Anthony Rizzo launched a game-winning, two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to send the Cubs to a 5-3 victory.

After striking out the final two hitters in the 12th, Kevin Slowey (1-1) returned to the mound for the 13th, but served up a leadoff single to Junior Lake before Rizzo scorched a first-pitch curveball over the wall in right.

"I had a pretty good idea that Rizzo was going to be aggressive and wasn't able to get the ball where I needed to get it and he put a good swing on it," Slowey said of giving up Rizzo's game-winning homer.

Rizzo finished with four RBI, while Chris Coghlan collected two hits and an RBI for the Cubs, who have won a season-high four straight games.

"They're playing with a lot of confidence right now," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said of his club. "I think they're continuing to pick each other up. I think they're starting to feel and know that they can do this."

Carlos Villanueva (2-5) picked up the victory after striking out three over two flawless innings of relief work.

Garrett Jones smacked three hits and scored once, while Reed Johnson stroked a two-run, pinch-hit single to tie the game in the ninth for the Marlins, who had a four-game win streak halted.

Chicago, which has won seven of its last eight home games, has beaten the Marlins in seven of the last 10 meetings.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/samardzija-aims-to-bounce-back-against-marlins