Cubs revert to dismal hitting at home in loss to Marlins
On second thought, maybe the Cubs should have tanked for a road game during the last week of the season.
Their dismal hitting inside Wrigley Field continued in Wednesday's 5-1 playoff loss to Miami. As a team, they batted .129 against Marlins pitching (4-for-31).
So this result doesn't come as a complete shock. The Marlins were battle-tested this season and brought some young starting pitchers the Cubs haven't seen much of. Wednesday's winner was Sandy Alcantara, who gave up 3 hits and 1 run in 6⅔ innings.
"He was good with his fastball," Anthony Rizzo said. "He wasn't really getting his off-speed over consistently, he just kept beating us with the fastball. A team like us, usually we hunt fastballs and we just didn't come through. He pitched really well and he went deep for them."
Alcantara fell behind a lot of hitters early in the game, but limited the damage to just 3 walks.
"I feel a little weird," he said. "I didn't have my best stuff today, but you guys saw the result. I never give up. I was trying to find a way to throw strikes, throw my other pitches."
Game 2 will feature Yu Darvish against Miami rookie Sixto Sanchez, a pitcher the Cubs haven't seen.
"We've got to really grind tomorrow," Rizzo said. "I know they have a rookie pitcher on the mound that has had a lot of success. We've got to come and make him work.
"We were very confident coming in. Tomorrow we've got to come out and score early for Yu and try to get him the lead so he can pitch comfortably. Kyle (Hendricks) pitched his tail off (in Game 1). In the playoffs, runs are usually at a premium but we have to do a better job of getting more than one."