Pablo López starts strong, Marlins still fall 2-1 to Chicago Cubs

Another solid start by Pablo López was foiled by an abysmal offensive showing by the Marlins.

Miami (61-88) dropped the second contest in its three-game home series against the Chicago Cubs (63-85) 2-1 Tuesday night. The defeat is the Marlins’ 36th one-run loss of the season, just one behind the franchise record set in 1993.

The Cubs scored the go-ahead run in the fateful eighth after loading the bases against lefty Steven Okert. Michael Hermosillo got hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the inning. The next batter Zach McKinstry reached first on a fielder’s choice, followed by a bunt from Esteban Quiroz. David Bote hit a sacrifice fly to score Hermosillo and give Chicago the lead.

Despite the loss, López is in the midst of a career year. He has set personal bests in starts (30), innings pitched (167) and strikeouts (162). He allowed one run (from a homer by David Bote), five hits, hit one batter and struck out six in 6 2/3 innings Tuesday.

The showing was similar to his last start in the Marlins’ 5-3 win over Philadelphia Thursday, in which he made it through 6 2/3 innings surrendering two runs off four hits and striking out five.

After suffering from shoulder injuries that kept him out of the latter half of the 2018, 2019 and 2021 seasons, López is well on his way to finishing his first full season in the major leagues. Tuesday marked the right hander’s 30th start this year, a career record. Marlins’ manager Don Mattingly said the milestone is a testament to the pitcher’s durability and hard (but also smart) work.

“I think it says a lot about Pablo’s perseverance,” Mattingly said. “What he’s been through, that’s a continuing change of the routine to get the right one. Because maybe he was overdoing it, under doing it, whatever it was. You know, now he’s starting to find the right mixture to be able to have 30 starts.”

While the loss stung, López referred to the landmark start as a “silver lining.”

“I’m trying not to take anything for granted from pretty much when the second half started, I’ve been cherishing every second of it,” he said after the game. “I mean, enjoying it, having fun.”

Huascar Brazoban relieved López with two outs in the seventh and struck out the last batter to strand two runners. Right hander Dylan Floro pitched a quick three-up, three-down ninth inning.

The last bout between the Cubs and the Marlins ended triumphantly for Miami with a go-ahead grand slam from Bryan De La Cruz to lift the club to a 10-3 win over the Cubs. But the Marlins proved unable to strike up much offensively.

“A lot of times we look at the game from that last ‘what happened that changed the score,’” Mattingly said of missed opportunities, which included leaving six runners stranded on base. “But we don’t think about what we weren’t able to accomplish earlier in the game when Pablo’s throwing zeroes for six innings.”

Jordan Groshans drove in Miami’s sole run of the evening with an RBI single for his first at bat in the bottom of the second. Cubs second baseman David Bote dove for the ground ball only to find himself sprawled out just short of it, sending home JJ Bleday, whom Cubs pitcher Adrian Sampson walked to lead off the inning.

The series finale between the Marlins and Cubs is Wednesday at 6:40 p.m.