Mills, Cubs bullpen shut out Marlins at Wrigley

[June 21, 2021]    Alec Mills pitched five impressive innings, and his bullpen added four perfect frames, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 2-0 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon.

Chicago Cubs left fielder Joc Pederson (24) hits a RBI single in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

Mills (3-1) threw a season-high 77 pitches, allowing six hits and no walks, striking out three. Mills, who allowed no extra-base hits, gave up at least one single in every frame, but no Miami runner got past second base.

The Cubs bullpen did the rest as Ryan Tepera (two innings), Andrew Chafin (one inning) and Craig Kimbrel (one inning) closed out the game. Kimbrel earned his 20th save in 22 chances this year, including an active streak of 13 straight.

It was career save No. 368 for Kimbrel, who tied Jonathan Papelbon for ninth in MLB history.

Chicago cooled off Marlins right fielder Adam Duvall, who hit four homers in the first two games of this series, both won by Miami. Duvall, who went 0-for-4 on Sunday, is just the third Marlins player ever to post two straight multiple-homer games, joining Derrek Lee (2002) and Giancarlo Stanton (2016).

The Marlins were coming off two straight games during which they scored at least 10 runs, the first time they have accomplished that feat since 2017.

Marlins rookie starter Zach Thompson (1-2) took a tough-luck loss, allowing no hits, three walks and one run, unearned, in four innings.

Thompson -- making just his third major-league start -- allowed that run in the third inning. After Jason Heyward drew a leadoff walk, Thompson struck out the next two batters. However, Joc Pederson then smashed a hard grounder to shortstop Miguel Rojas, who moved to his left but couldn't handle the ball as it was ruled an error.

Heyward went to third on the play and scored on a passed ball charged to Jorge Alfaro, who had a swing-and-miss fastball tip off the edge of his glove.

Chicago didn't get its first hit until the fifth inning, off reliever Ross Detwiler. Patrick Wisdom got that hit on an infield single that handcuffed Rojas. The at-bat lasted 15 pitches, with Wisdom fouling off 10 pitches.

The Cubs converted that stellar at-bat into a run as Jake Marisnick followed with a single, and Pederson produced an RBI single to cap the scoring.

--Field Level Media

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