15-year Marliniversary: Marlins stun Cubs, Marmól with 6-run 9th at Wrigley

[Mike Ferguson]

Although not all good, Wrigley Field has held some dear memories for fans of the Florida/Miami Marlins. It’s the place where the club won its second National League pennant and most recent postseason series.

While it didn’t quite bring that level of jubilation, the Florida Marlins picked up a victory worth remembering at the “Friendly Confines” on this day 15 years ago. Shut out for eight innings, the Marlins erupted for six runs in the ninth inning in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

It didn’t appear as though it would be Florida’s night as the Marlins and Cubs opened a four-game set on July 14, 2011. Matt Garza had given the Cubs seven shutout innings before Sean Marshall worked a 1-2-3 eighth. As the contest shifted to the ninth, Chicago turned to right-hander Carlos Marmól with a 2-0 lead.

An All-Star for the Cubs in 2008, Marmól walked the first three batters he faced while mixing in just one total strike. Against pinch hitter Greg Dobbs, the Chicago right-hander was able to finally find the strike zone, but the results were even worse.

On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Dobbs doubled down the right-field line, scoring two. A throwing error by Chicago’s Darwin Barney allowed a third run to score as the Marlins took the lead. Following another four-pitch walk – this one to Emilio Bonifácio – Marmól’s night was done.

Florida’s big inning, however, wasn't done.

With Florida now leading 3-2, Kerry Wood came in and walked Omar Infante. After Gaby Sánchez’s sacrifice fly extended the lead to 4-2, Hanley Ramírez singled home Bonifácio to push it to 5-2.

Lefty James Russell then became the third Cubs pitcher to throw in the inning. Russell started by getting Logan Morrison to ground out. Following an intentional walk to Giancarlo (then known as "Mike") Stanton, Mike Cameron singled in Infante to cap a six-run inning.

Now down 6-2, the Cubs did their best to make things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Tony Campana and Geovany Soto opened with back-to-back singles off Juan Carlos Oviedo (then known as Leo Núñez). Although a run scored on a passed ball, Oviedo retired the next three batters to end the contest.

Prior to the ninth, the Cubs’ runs had come courtesy of a Marlon Byrd solo home run in the second and a Barney hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Soto had four of the eight Chicago hits. Bonifácio and Infante each had two hits for the Marlins.

The big ninth inning gave the Marlins the opener of what would be a four-game series at Wrigley. Florida ended up taking three of those contests. To that point in the season, the six runs in the ninth was the most that the Marlins had scored in any inning that season. They came on this day 15 years ago.

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