Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Chi. Cubs 4, Miami 3
When: 7:10 PM ET, Thursday, April 25, 2013
Where: Marlins Ballpark, Miami, Florida
Temperature: 78°
Umpires: Home - Jeff Nelson, 1B - Jim Wolf, 2B - Cory Blaser, 3B - Jim Joyce
Attendance: 15394


Cubs 4, Marlins 3:
Nate Schierholtz hit a tying home run off the right-field foul pole in the sixth and Luis Valbuena blasted a game-winning homer into the right-field bullpen in the ninth as visiting Chicago claimed the opener of the four-game series.

The Cubs' maligned bullpen combined for three scoreless innings with Shawn Camp (1-1) pitching a perfect eighth for the win and Carlos Marmol working out of a jam in the ninth for his second save after Valbuena cranked a first-pitch sinker from Steve Cishek (1-3) into the Marlins' bullpen to break a 3-3 tie.

Miami had the first two men on in the ninth, but the Cubs cut down the lead runner on Juan Pierre's sacrifice bunt attempt and Marmol got a fly ball from Placido Polanco and struck out Giancarlo Stanton as Chicago improved to 3-6 in one-run games.

The Cubs grabbed an early lead when David DeJesus led off the game with a double and scored on Starlin Castro's single up the middle, but starter Edwin Jackson didn't hold it for long. Jackson issued two hits and two walks - including a free pass to Rob Brantly with the bases loaded - in the first.

Pierre put the Marlins ahead with an RBI single in the second, then stole second and third and scored on Stanton's fielder's choice. Chicago cut the deficit in half on Welington Castillo's RBI double in the fourth and tied it when Schierholtz hooked a shot off the foul pole.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Both starters allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. Jackson walked four and struck out four, while Miami's Kevin Slowey struck out six and did not issue a walk. … Cubs starters have a collective 3.04 ERA - second-best in the National League - and have recorded quality starts in 13 of 21 games, but have only three wins. … The Marlins managed only two hits after the second inning.

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Chi. Cubs   Miami
Edwin Jackson Player Kevin Slowey
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 6.0
4 Strikeouts 6
5 Hits 5
4.50 ERA 4.50
Hitting
Chi. Cubs   Miami
Nate Schierholtz Player Austin Kearns
2 Hits 1
1 RBI 0
1 HR 0
6 TB 1
.500 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Chi. Cubs 6 2 15 .176 8 9 4 0 0 0
Miami 6 0 6 .194 20 5 3 5 2 1