Marlins vs. Cubs Game Highlights (9/23/26) | MLB Highlights

Coming up here tonight, the Milans and the Cubs, it is game two of this three-game set. If the Cubs win, they are into the postseason. So wild card standings, everybody's tied. The good news is everybody's got the same record. The Cubs have the head-to-head advantage against all of those teams, so there's a positive, but start getting some wins. Yeah, five games left, you know, if the Cubs go three and two, you feel pretty comfortable because of that tiebreaker, but you never know how things are going to shake out. They've got that dicey weekend with the weather in Boston coming up, so this is an important game to get here tonight. Kevin Gossman on the mound here tonight. J.D.'s working on extra rest, seven days rest. Yeah, well, should be plenty strong then, and then we take a look at the little bit of a resume on Kevin. He's the only pitcher with 30 more starts in each of the last six seasons he's been a real workhorse. Strikeouts come on that splitter. Otto Lopez climbs in, and away we go. And it's strike three caught. Lopez caught looking, fastball pretty much right down the middle. One down, the batter Kyle Stowers. Three-one. Hit hard on the ground, down to a knee, Bush. He'll get up, and Stowers is out. Two down, base is empty for Heriberto Hernandez. The 0-1. Chopped up the middle, Horner on the shortstop side a second, and throws it out. Got something on it, and made the accurate throw. Three up and three down. Bottom of the first, and here come the Cubs, led by that man looking for a 40-40 season as he needs just one stolen base already. 45 homers. Heroes welcome every time he steps up to the plate. He's Ryan Gusto, and if I pulled the fans and asked you who's been the best Marlins starting pitcher since the beginning of August, I'm not sure many would sit here and tell me Ryan Gusto. There's a swig and a miss by Pete Crow Armstrong, and a nice start for Ryan Gusto. Three-pitch punch out of PCA, and there's one man gone. Back-to-back opposite field singles by the Cubs. Suzuki and Bush, runners at first and second with one away, a scoring opportunity. Michael Conforto coming up. Stackcast 3-D, powered by Google Cloud, Michael Conforto drills one out towards right center, but picking it off on a line is Jacob Marcy. Staying put at second base is Seiya Suzuki. And Conforto's out. Here's the in half. He was one for six with a run batted in in game one. Bouncing ball towards first, Stowers with his foot on his bag, fields it, and the inning is over. A couple of hits for the Cubs, that's all here in the first. One out single for Sanoa. First hit of the game for Miami, scoreless game, and the batter is Jacob Marcy. Oh yeah, good challenge. Miguel Amaya with the challenge, ABS powered by T-Mobile, and it's a strike. That's a strike, and Miguel Amaya made a very wise decision to challenge it. Hits strike three and out number two. Agustin Ramirez, the designated hitter, stands in. There goes a runner. Throw to second. Tag! Good throw by Amaya. Nico Horner covering. It's two to four on the caught stealing, and that ends the inning. Pete Carl Armstrong, you look at the ranks, it's basically PCA on the ones and the twos. An amazing year that he has put together. That's hit hard, but Stowers is there. Gusto gets over, and on one pitch, Pete retired. Here is Suzuki. That is fisted on the ground. A couple of hops for Otto, who gets rid of it quickly, and gets Suzuki by a half a step. That is three pitches and two outs in the third. Yeah, making quick work, and I like how he's going inside. Here's Bush, and there's a swing and a miss. A quick, perfect bottom of the third inning for Gusto, and we're scoreless at Wrigley as we go to the fourth. Gusto back out there. You'll see Conforto half in corner for the second time. Line drive, base hit down the right field line, off the bat of Michael Conforto. It bounces off the sidewall. He's going for two. There's going to be a play on him. Sliding double for Michael Conforto. Head first, diving slide at second. Two base hit for Conforto. He and Hap with a chance to drive in the game's first run. The right side, Sonoha, and throws out Hap Conforto to third. So Conforto, 90 feet away from giving the Cubs the lead. The Marlins are going to pull the infield in. Now Nikko, see if he can pay this off, and the 3-2 locks him up, and from 3-0 to a punch out on three straight pitches. He was not looking for that fastball. He was looking for something spinning. Now it's Ramirez who bounced out to third his first time up. There's a bouncing ball, the first. That's a fair ball, and Pedro Ramirez is 0-19 for the Marlins again this season, and Gusto works out of a bit of a jam in the fourth. Ball stuck in the ivy, Pete Curl Armstrong raising the hands up. They're going to call this a ground rule double, and Sonoha, who's done a lot of running over the last few minutes, has to jog all the way back to second base. Yeah, Cubs get a major break here, and that saves them 90 feet, at least for now. Jacob Marcy, swing and a miss, and he struck him out. He got him for the second time, and that's a biggie right there, and now one out and a man at second. Cristina Ramirez at the plate, right-handed batter. Swing and a miss, struck him out. That's a half dozen, and there's two away. And they've been guessing wrong all night. Graham Pauley, a left-handed batter, at the plate. Tell you what, this is really an impressive at-bat that Pauley's putting together here. Graham Pauley hanging around, three and two. Gosman checks it on, fires, swing and a miss, he struck him out. Great work by Kevin Gosman, he said, you bet. So Noah, a lead-off double, and then Gosman strikes out the next three. Earl Armstrong takes ball four, a fastball that misses from Gusto, and now Pete Earl Armstrong has perhaps an opportunity to join the 40-40 club here in Mississippi. It's a 39 steal. Two and two on Saia, two outs, no score, bottom five. There goes Peter, and that's lifted in the air right field. Conine coming in, coming in, makes the catch. He had to run a country mile, and Conine makes the catch. If he doesn't, PCA was almost standing on home plate. Five shutout innings for Ryan Gusto. Base hit for Otto Lopez, that's his first of the night. Marlins have a one-out base runner in the sixth. Eighty-eight pitches for Gosman. I imagine this is probably it for him, the sixth inning, if he can make it through. And now it's Kyle Stowers. Stowers in the air, deep left center. This is Pelton, way back, at the wall, she goes, gone! Homers and back-to-back nights for Kyle Stowers. It's a two-run jack here in the sixth, and it's two-nothing Miami. And the Marlins strike first. It's two-nothing in the top of the sixth. And Hernandez will get the walk, third straight guy to reach base, single, two-run Homer, now walk. On the ground, up the middle, Swanson able to grab it. And safe at first is Conide. Now going to third is the runner, Gosman, got it! Gosman might be shaken up. Hernandez tried to go from first to third on the infield single. Swanson, while sitting down, threw the ball to first, not in time. Third base was vacated. Gosman, the pitcher, had to run over and cover the bag. And he made a lunging tag, and now the question is, is he okay? He might have pulled something in the ribcage area. And you just hope that he's okay. He's still feeling it, walking slow in the dugout. Time called. Pitching coach for Miami out to see about Gusto. In fact, that's going to be a pitching change. Cubs threatening. Runners at second and third, one away. Bottom of the sixth inning. And Michael Peterson will take over. He has inherited nearly 28 runners this season. Only two have scored. He's been elite. And Horner will take his base. Nikko is plunked, and they're loaded. And the batter is the rookie, Pedro Ramirez. And listen to this crowd. Swing and a miss. He got him. Boy, I don't know if he wanted to throw a strike, but it was up and in inside the strike zone on Ramirez. That's a huge second out. Cubs need a hero. So many missed opportunities last night. Big opportunity here. Bases loaded, two down. Two down. Dansby Swanson, the batter. Marlins lead 2-0. Comes through. We're starting over, tied at two. There's that hero we're looking for. Got a breaking ball, stayed on the plate. Hit it off the end of the bat. Big two-run score in a game's time. Just gets dumped into very short right field, and now you get first and third and only one out. That's middle infielders will stay back, hoping to get a double play grounder. Joe Mack is the hitter. Bouncing ball to second. They go to second. No out there. Oh, they called him out in a 4-6-3 double play. I don't know if there's any way. The second base umpire said that Edwin Moscoso got the call wrong. So the Marlins should and will challenge this play at second. It's reversed. It would be a fielder's choice RBI. This is what is being contested. Is Ruiz safe? Oh, yes. Oh, yes, Nelly. After a review, the call on the field is overturned. The runner is safe. Miami retains the challenge. It's a fielder's choice RBI for Joe Mack. His 51st RBI of the year, and the Marlins take a 3-2 lead here in the seventh. And now two men on with one away, and Miami threatening again with Javier Sanoa coming up. Two on, one out. Swing and a miss, and Sanoa is down on strikes. That's a big strikeout. Two down, and still at first and second. Hopped in the air. Left field, Swanson is out there. Dansby makes the catch. We'll go to the bottom of the eighth. The Cubs trailing it by a run. Cubs down to their final three outs, and Sandy Alcantara making his second appearance out of the pen. He'll try and close it out. Pedro Ramirez leads off the bottom of the ninth inning. Line drive, base hit, left center field. Ramirez is aboard. Leadoff single, Pedro Ramirez. And there's P.C.A. in the on-deck circle as he'll watch Carson Kelly with one out and a man at first. Cubs down a run. A ground ball could win it for Miami. And that is hit hard to shortstop. Lopez to Serna. The throw to first. There it is. And the ball game is over. Sandy, a couple of saves, and the Marlins win the series. How about that? He goes, oh, this is easy. And P.C.A. left in the on-deck circle. And the Cubs fail to secure a playoff berth with a win as they have dropped the first two to the Marlins in this series.