Marlins Rally In 9th, Beat Cubs 6-5
CHICAGO (AP) - Cubs closer Pedro Strop lost his control and then Kyle Ryan had a brain cramp on a comebacker.
The Miami Marlins, with the worst record in the majors, found a wild way to win against previously red-hot Chicago.
Strop walked three batters in the ninth inning and Miami took advantage, rallying for three runs to pull out a 6-5 victory Monday night that ended the Cubs' winning streak at seven games.
"Great at-bats all through the ninth inning there," said Neil Walker, who scored Miami's sixth run on Ryan's bad decision. "Scoring three runs in the ninth inning off that guy (Strop) is not easy."
Jon Berti hit his first major league homer, a solo shot off Cole Hamels in the sixth to tie it at 3 after the Cubs had jumped ahead 3-0 against Sandy Alcantara in the first.
Chicago led 4-3 entering the ninth, but Strop (1-2) issued two walks and then yielded a pinch-hit single to Walker as Miami loaded the bases. Strop walked Rosell Herrera to force in the tying run with nobody out. Berti came home from third to put Miami ahead 5-4 when Miguel Rojas grounded out against Ryan.
Martin Prado hit a comebacker to Ryan, who looked back Walker a step toward third after he had come halfway home. But when Ryan threw to first to retire Prado, Walker sprinted across the plate with the third run of the inning.
"I was on contact," Walker said. "I saw it hit and as soon as it was hit, I'm gone. If he catches it and throws it home, I'd just try to stay in the rundown as long as I can to get the hitter to second.
"I guess he thought maybe there were two outs. I have no idea. It turned out to be a big run."
Ryan acknowledged he just "froze."
"I knew the whole situation," he said. "It could have been a tie game (without the run)."
Cubs manager Joe Maddon had no regrets about calling on Strop, who blew his second save in six chances.
"I feel good about Stropy in that game right there," Maddon said. "His velocity was down. He was just a little off. That's what I saw."
Adam Conley (1-3) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Sergio Romo worked around a solo homer by Kris Bryant and single by Anthony Rizzo in the ninth to earn his sixth save.
The Marlins pulled it out despite walking 10 batters themselves.
"That's probably not a very good blueprint in this ballpark with that team," manager Don Mattingly said.
Starlin Castro and Brian Anderson each had an RBI for the last-place Marlins.
Rizzo lined a two-run shot in the first for his 200th career homer. Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras each had an RBI single.
Rizzo homered for the fifth time in eight games and for the 199th time with the Cubs, moving him past Hank Sauer into ninth place in franchise history.
Hamels allowed three runs and five hits while striking out seven in his third straight no-decision. Alcantara yielded three runs on four hits and six walks in five innings.
In the first, Rizzo lined a sinker against the wind into the right-center bleachers. Javier Baez doubled and Contreras singled him home.
The Marlins trimmed it to 3-2 in the third.
With the game tied at 3 in the sixth, Miami relievers Tyler Kinley and Nick Anderson issued three straight free passes to load the bases with none out. Schwarber followed with a sharp single off Castro's glove at second base to make it 4-3.
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