In the first two games of the series between the Cubs and Marlins, the Marlins didn’t score until the ninth inning. On Thursday they scored six times in the ninth to spoil a gem by Matt Garza, and on Friday scored one in the ninth but still fell to the Cubs 2-1. Saturday they decided to score early and unfortunately for the Cubs they scored often in route to a 13-3 victory.
Mike Stanton was the offensive star for the Marlins (45-49) Saturday. Stanton had three hits, two of which left the yard, and drove in four runs. Logan Morrison drove in three runs and Hanley Ramirez added three hits providing starting pitcher Javier Vazquez enough run support.
Javier Vazquez continued his recent dominance going seven innings to earn his sixth win on the season. Vazquez made just one mistake, a three-run homer to Aramis Ramirez, and allowed four hits to go along with his ten strikeouts.
Carlos Zambrano made his first start after being activated earlier in the day from the disabled list. Zambrano went just four and two-thirds and allowed eight runs on seven hits. The Cubs (38-57) righty fell to 6-5 on the season.
The Cubs will look for a series split when the two teams meet Sunday in the series finale.