Griffin Conine plated the go-ahead run in the 12th inning for the visiting Miami Marlins, who snapped a three-game losing streak Tuesday with an 8-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.
On a night when runs were scarce until the final inning, both teams endured a pair of scoreless extra frames before Conine broke the drought with a leadoff, golf-shot single off Caleb Thielbar that fell just inside the left-field line. Esteury Ruiz, the automatic runner, scored from second to make it 3-2. After being sacrificed to second on a Graham Pauley bunt, Conine would score on a Jakob Marsee line-drive hit up the middle.
The win by the Marlins (77-80) served as a spoiler for the home team. It kept the Cubs (87-70) from clinching a wild-card playoff spot as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 earlier Tuesday.
Josh Ekness (3-4) walked one and struck out a pair in the 11th inning to get the win. Thielbar (3-4) pitched an inning, allowing the two hits, with two of his three runs allowed earned.
Kyle Stowers (2-for-4) homered in the sixth and doubled for his first two-hit game since Sept. 5. He drove in a pair as he also worked a bases-loaded walk off Edward Cabrera, who allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning, in the 12th.
Chicago rallied from a 2-0 hole after being flustered by Marlins starter Janson Junk, who threw five scoreless innings. After tying the game in the sixth, the Cubs had the bases loaded with just one out. However, Calvin Faucher got Pedro Ramirez to line out and Carson Kelly to strike out to end the threat.
The Cubs had the bases loaded with two out in the 10th. However, Javier Sanoja made a diving stop on a 3-2 Ramirez grounder just into the outfield grass, throwing the rookie out and keeping the Cubs from celebrating. Sanoja went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Chicago mustered only one hit in 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Shota Imanaga went five for the Cubs and gave up his only run in the fourth on a single by Augustin Ramirez that scored Stowers.
Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 with a single, a double and two walks. He stole his 39th base of the season in the third inning, putting him one steal away from becoming the seventh major league player to join the 40-homer, 40-stolen bases club.
