Community Picks: Chicago Cubs 0% vs Miami Marlins 0%

MIAMI – Jon Lester dropped his head and wiped the sweat from his face. The Cubs ace didn’t jerk his neck and twist his body, hoping the swing and the sound somehow fooled him. The slow turnaround revealed the obvious – the 75-mph curveball out of his left hand flew over the left-field wall and nearly into the Clevelander bar billed as an adult playground.  Lester gripped the next ball, stared out into the visual noise at Marlins Park and went to work late Saturday afternoon after J.T. Realmuto’s two-out, three-run homer in the first inning. This is the bulldog determination and tunnel vision that’s been the antidote to the big-market pressures at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field and made Lester Continue to Article

June 24, 2017 9:54:pm EST

MIAMI – Jon Lester dropped his head and wiped the sweat from his face. The Cubs ace didn’t jerk his neck and twist his body, hoping the swing and the sound somehow fooled him. The slow turnaround revealed the obvious – the 75-mph curveball out of his left hand flew over the left-field wall and nearly into the Clevelander bar billed as an adult playground.  Lester gripped the next ball, stared out into the visual noise at Marlins Park and went to work late Saturday afternoon after J.T. Realmuto’s two-out, three-run homer in the first inning. This is the bulldog determination and tunnel vision that’s been the antidote to the big-market pressures at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field and made Lester Continue to Article

June 24, 2017 7:14:pm EST

MIAMI – The day after watching his .500-ish team get shut out again, and as the growing pains continued for his young hitters, Cubs manager Joe Maddon benched the self-proclaimed greatest leadoff guy of all-time. “I’m hoping Jon Jay goes 5-for-5 today,” Anthony Rizzo said before Saturday’s 5-3 win at Marlins Park. “Wally Pipped out of that spot.” In the middle of a stretch where the Cubs will play 17 days in a row, Maddon figured he would give Rizzo a break against a Miami lefty (Justin Nicolino) instead of Sunday’s right-handed starter (Edinson Volquez). An added bonus: The All-Star first baseman grew up in South Florida and has a home and family here and reigning National League MVP Kris Bryant Continue to Article

June 24, 2017 6:50:pm EST

Anthony Rizzo won't start for only the second time this season when the Chicago Cubs face Miami at Marlins Park. Rizzo went hitless Friday night in his 10th game from the leadoff spot. Rizzo batted .342 with two doubles, one triple, four homers, nine runs scored, 10 RBI, six walks, a .422 on-base percentage and a 1.185 OPS in his first nine games in the leadoff role. Jon Jay will take over the leadoff duties Saturday and play left field against Marlins left-hander Justin Nicolino. Jay will bat leadoff for the seventh time this season. Kris Bryant will move from third to first base, with Javier Baez starting at third base. This marks the first time this season Bryan and Baez will be starting at Continue to Article

June 24, 2017 12:26:pm EST

It didn’t feel like home, not with a sizable chunk of the 24,684 at Marlins Park on Friday clad in blue and exercising their vocal chords for the Chicago Cubs. But, technically speaking, it was a home win for the Marlins, who gutted out a 2-0 victory over the defending World Series champs. One night after the Cubs rang up 11 runs in a blowout, Jose Urena and the bullpen put the clamps on them in a gritty win that continued their recent success at Marlins Park. The Marlins have won 13 of their past 17 in the home confines, a marked turnaround from a disastrous stretch in late April and May when they lost 12 of 14 there. Despite considerate fan support for the Cubs on Friday, the Marlins did just Continue to Article

June 23, 2017 10:46:pm EST