The red-hot Jon Berti homered twice and Josh Bell went deep and reached base four times as the postseason-seeking Miami Marlins bashed the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Bryan De La Cruz singled in two runs and Jazz Chisholm Jr. finished with two hits and two runs as the Marlins (81-75) kept the pressure on the Chicago Cubs, whom they are chasing for the third wild-card spot in the National League. Miami began the day one game behind Chicago, which was entertaining the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
The Brewers (88-68) missed a chance to clinch the NL Central after entering with a magic number of one, but they could still clinch with a Cubs loss.
Edward Cabrera (7-7) picked up the win by surrendering just one run in five innings. He allowed five hits, two walks and one hit batter while striking out five in Miami’s last home game of the regular season.
The Marlins pounded three Brewers pitchers for 17 hits. Starter Freddy Peralta (12-10) gave up four runs on nine hits in lasting only three innings. He didn’t walk anyone and fanned four.
William Contreras and Carlos Santana each had two of Milwaukee’s eight hits, and Tyrone Taylor singled home the Brewers’ only run, which came in the fifth inning and pulled them within 4-1.
The Marlins answered in the bottom of the fifth with Berti’s second bomb of the game and third in three games, a two-run shot. He extended his hitting streak to six games, and in that span he is 9-for-17 with three homers, four runs and five RBIs.
Berti’s solo shot opened the scoring in the second inning. Bell, who had three hits and a walk, launched a leadoff homer in the third to make it 2-0. Jake Burger followed with a single, Chisholm doubled him to third and De La Cruz dumped a single to center to score them both.
Burger, the Marlins’ third baseman, did not go back out when they took the field in the top of the sixth with what the team said was quad tightness.
–Field Level Media