IOWA Cubs finish off rare sweep of Marlins

 

MIAMI — Welington Castillo had a banner day at the plate, and all he could think about was his role in a scary injury for a teammate.Castillo hit his first major league homer and drove in three runs to help the Cubs beat the Florida Marlins 13-3 on Sunday despite losing rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin to a punctured chest.Colvin was standing on third base in the second inning when he was struck by a sliver of Castillo’s maple bat. Colvin scored on Castillo’s double, but was replaced in the field in the bottom half and taken to a hospital. “I feel really bad about it,” Castillo said. “It wasn’t on purpose, but he’s my teammate. I hope he’s getting better.” A Cubs spokesman said Colvin was in stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital and is expected to remain there for the next few days for observation.Colvin was watching Castillo’s liner into the left-field corner and looked surprised when he was hit by the bat. He is expected to miss the rest of the season.The Marlins issued 12 walks, tying a franchise record for a nine-inning game set Oct. 5, 2001, against Atlanta. Brett Sinkbeil issued three consecutive bases-loaded walks in a six-run second.Bobby Scales, Brad Snyder, and Jeff Baker each drove in a pair of runs for the Cubs, who completed a three-game sweep and earned a sixth consecutive win for the first time since a seven-game streak from August 23-29, 2008. They also wrapped up an 8-1 trip, the best road trip of at least nine games in franchise history.Dan Uggla hit his 31st homer for the Marlins, who managed just three hits. Hector Luna also went deep.The Cubs’ starting lineup had four rookies and seven players without a home run this season, but they chased Andrew Miller (1-3) during the second. Scales got the Cubs off to a nice start with a two-run single in the first and Snyder added another two-run single in the second for his first career hit. Castillo also had the RBI double on the play that sent Colvin to the hospital.Miller recorded just four outs and was charged with five runs and three hits. He walked four and struck out one.Jeff Samardzija (2-1) pitched six innings, allowing three runs and three hits. He improved to 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Iowa.Castillo’s two-run homer off Burke Badenhop in the ninth was the first of his career.

NOTES—Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez missed his third straight game with a sore left elbow…..Marlins rookie Logan Morrison extended his streak of reaching base safely to 38 games with a walk in the first inning.