Rizzo's Walk-Off HR Seals Cubs' 4th Straight Win
CHICAGO (AP) -- Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 5-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Rizzo also had a two-run double in the eighth as the Cubs earned their season-high fourth consecutive victory. Jason Hammel pitched seven scoreless innings and Chris Coghlan had an RBI double in his first game against his former team.
Junior Lake hit a leadoff single against Kevin Slowey (1-1) before Rizzo connected for his 12th homer, belting a long drive to right.
Carlos Villanueva (2-5) pitched two perfect innings as Chicago got its first four-game winning streak since last July 6-9. Coghlan and Nate Schierholtz each had two hits.
Garrett Jones had three hits for Miami, which had won four in a row. Nathan Eovaldi gave up three runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings in his first career appearance against the Cubs.
Hammel allowed six hits, struck out eight and walked one, extending his scoreless streak to 14 innings over his last two outings. The right-hander, who could be an attractive trade target for a contender at next month's deadline, is 2-1 with a 1.42 ERA over his last four starts.
Hammel was in line for his seventh victory, which would have matched his total from last season, before the Marlins scored three times in the ninth against closer Hector Rondon. Justin Bour had a run-scoring grounder before Reed Johnson, another pinch hitter, sliced a tying, two-run single into right-center against one of his former teams.
Bour was initially ruled safe on his grounder to first, but the call was overturned when a replay review showed Rondon got his foot on the bag in time. There was another overturned call in the 10th inning when Schierholtz's diving try for Casey McGehee's sinking liner to right was initially ruled a successful catch.
Mixing a mid-90s (mph) fastball with a big, slow curve, Eovaldi mowed down his first 14 hitters. The 6-foot-2 right-hander struck out the first batter in each of his first three innings, and John Baker's foul liner in the third was the closest Chicago got to a hit in the early part of the game.
Schierholtz then stopped Eovaldi's perfect run with a two-out single in the fifth for his 500th career hit. Coghlan followed with a liner to right for his third RBI in 24 games this season, scoring Schierholtz all the way from first for a 1-0 lead.
While Eovaldi was shutting down the Cubs, Hammel had to work hard to keep the Marlins down.
Miami got at least one hit in each of the first five innings. Its best scoring opportunity came in the fourth, when Jones and Marcell Ozuna had consecutive one-out hits to put runners on the corners.
Hammel responded by striking out Adeiny Hechavarria, with Ozuna swiping second as Hechavarria swung and missed for strike three. Jeff Mathis was walked intentionally to get to Eovaldi, who looked at a called third strike to end the inning.
Hammel retired his last seven batters, including an inning-ending double play for Giancarlo Stanton in the fifth. It was a frustrating day for Stanton, who flung his bat to the side in disgust after he struck out to end the third.
NOTES: Baker returned to the lineup after taking a foul ball off his throat during Wednesday's 5-4 victory over the Mets. Cubs manager Rick Renteria said Baker's vocal cords are "inflamed" and the catcher is taking medication. "There's nothing there that we can actually do to hurt it any more or any less," Renteria said. ... Marlins manager Mike Redmond said he's getting good reports on SS Rafael Furcal (left hamstring strain), who is on a rehab assignment with Double-A Jacksonville. "It's just a matter of him being able to stay healthy," Redmond said. "I'm not sure when that day will come, when he's ready, but all the reports I've gotten are that he's feeling better and on the way to Miami at some point." ... Blackhawks forwards Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell and Michal Handzus and defenseman Sheldon Brookbank took batting practice and threw in the outfield before the game. "The wind must be blowing in because I didn't get one out," Sharp said with a grin. "I think Bicksy hit one off the wall." ... Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-5, 2.54 ERA) faces 37-year-old Marlins LHP Randy Wolf (1-1, 3.38) on Saturday.
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