Cubs vs. Marlins (Wild Card Round, Game 2)
The Cubs dropped the first game, scoring their lone run on an Ian Happ homer and letting six shutout innings from Hendricks turn into a 5-1 loss when things fell apart in the 7th. Now, they face elimination in this best of 3 Wild Card Round. They'll send their best starting pitcher and NL Cy Young contender Yu Darvish to keep the Cubs' season alive.CHC (0-1): RHP Yu Darvish (8-3, 2.01 ERA in the regular season)
MIA (1-0): RHP Sixto Sánchez (3-2, 3.46 ERA in the regular season)
RESCHEDULED: Friday, Oct. 2, time TBD
Darvish was spectacular in the shortened 2020 season, setting a new high fWAR as a Cub despite pitching in only 12 games. In addition to cutting his already low 2019 walk rate nearly in half, he also cut his HR per 9 by about two thirds. Today he makes his most important start yet for the 2020 season. Corey Dickerson (5-13 with 2 doubles and a homerun) and Starling Marte (4-11 with a homer) have enjoyed some success against him while most other Marlins have hardly seen him before.
The 22-year-old Sixto Sánchez reached AA in 2019 and made his MLB debut roughly 6 weeks ago. His overall numbers are fairly solid so far, but his last two starts were his weakest of the season. He went a cumulative 7 innings and allowed 9 runs on 12 hits and 6 walks in those starts. The rookie brings serious heat and a plus changeup that he turns to 27.4% of the time. That changeup feeds into his reverse splits. Righties enjoy a .267/.345/.400 slash line against him (19 innings pitched) compared to lefties at only .232/.270/.261 (20 innings pitched).
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