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Series Overview – Marlins sweep 3-0

Results:

Game 1: MIA 8, CWS 0

Game 2: MIA 7, CWS 0

Game 3: MIA 9, CWS 5 (10)

Chicago drops to 14–27, while Miami climbs back to 20–21. The Sox were shut out for the first 18 innings of the series and scored just 5 runs in 30 innings, all in the finale. Miami’s offense, led by Connor Norby, punished the bullpen and repeatedly flipped leverage spots.

Game 1 – Meyer outduels Schweitzer, late Norby slam (MIA 8–0)

Tyler Schweitzer actually gave you a chance: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 6 K. It was 3–0 through eight.

The offense never got going: just 4 hits, all singles/doubles spread around; no runner reached third base after the 2nd.

Miami finally broke it open in the 9th off Burke: walk, single, and Connor Norby’s grand slam to right put the game away.

Bryse Wilson left after just 0.2 IP with an elbow issue – which shows up in the news the next day.

Game 2 – Another shutout, Junk cruises (MIA 7–0)

Davis Martin got ambushed immediately: HBP, walk, balk, sac fly, and Norby’s 2-run homer made it 3–0 before your lineup had an at-bat.

Martin’s line: 4.1 IP, 4 R (3 ER). Clevinger soaked up 3 innings, but Miami kept adding.

Offense again blanked: 6 hits, 0 walks, two caught stealings, and no extra-base damage.

Miami’s Janson Junk carved: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 5 K, and the bullpen (Martinez / J. Hernandez / Sixto) finished the combined shutout.

Edgar Quero left hurt while running the bases, adding another bit of bad news.

Game 3 – Benintendi’s big day wasted in 10th-inning meltdown (MIA 9–5, 10)

This was the one that hurts.

Dream start: Chase Meidroth infield single, then Andrew Benintendi launched a 2-run shot off Sandy Alcantara.

Jesse Scholtens gave up a solo Norby homer in the 2nd, then you turned it over to Shane Smith, who was excellent: 5.0 IP, 1 R, 8 K, and carried a 3–1 lead into the 8th.

Benintendi added a solo homer in the 5th, and Kyle Teel plus Nick Maton / Mike Tauchman / Andre Lipcius kept applying a bit of pressure with walks and singles, but you never got the knockout insurance.

The collapse

In the 9th, with a 3–1 lead, Sean Burke came on and immediately ran into trouble: walk, FC, then Norby’s double and an Elehuris Montero RBI single tied it 3–3.

The 10th was a disaster: automatic runner + three straight walks (Hicks, Lopez, Myers) forced in the go-ahead run; a Sanchez infield single made it 5–3; Shuster came in and more walks, a sac fly, and a Hicks RBI single turned it into a 6-run inning.

You scratched back two in the bottom half (Tauchman reached on an error, Maton RBI single, Lipcius GIDP scoring another, Meidroth single, Benintendi double), but Henriquez finally froze Vaughn to end it.

Series hero for you:

Andrew Benintendi: 4-for-9 in the finale with 2 HR, 3 RBI, a double, and a walk-heavy series overall.

Chase Meidroth quietly set the table: multi-hit games in G1 and G3, plus good ABs even when he didn’t reach.

Series villain:

Connor Norby absolutely torched you: homers in all three games, including the grand slam in Game 1 and the key extra-base knocks in Games 2 and 3, plus a bunch of RBI.

Thematic Takeaways

1. Run prevention cracking late

Starters mostly kept you in games; even the Schweitzer/Martin lines were “damage-controlled” until the late innings.

The bullpen was the real problem:

Burke: 2 outings, 6+ runs allowed including the blown save/BS+L combo in Game 3.

Murfee / Burke combo gave up the 5-spot in the 9th of Game 1.

With Bryse Wilson now hurt (see below), the middle-relief bridge to Erceg/Estevez-type arms is looking shaky.

2. Offense too passive, especially early

Zero runs the first 18 innings of the series; only one inning with more than one run (1st of G3).

Lots of deep counts and walks drawn (Benintendi, Rojas, Meidroth), but very little loud contact until that last game.

Luis Robert Jr. in particular had a rough set: plenty of strikeouts, a few hard outs, but no real impact.

3. Baserunning miscues

Multiple caught stealings (Rojas, Maton) and aggressive send-and-thrown-out plays; in a low-scoring environment, those outs loomed large.

Injury / Roster Notes

Bryse Wilson hits the 15-day IL with a sprained elbow, expected out about three weeks. Given how heavily you’ve leaned on him as a swingman, that’s a real blow to the already-wobbly bridge innings.

Jesse Scholtens gets recalled from AAA Charlotte and immediately starts the finale. He was fine the first time through, but the move underlines how thin things are getting in your rotation/bullpen shuffle.

Edgar Quero’s in-game injury is one to monitor, even if it doesn’t show as an IL stint yet—between him and Teel you’ve been juggling catching workloads.

Prospect Corner – Wolkow heating up

Bright spot: George Wolkow is named ACL Player of the Week.

19 years old, 6’7”, 240, left-handed masher in RF/CF with real power projection (current/pot 40/50 power, 45/75 eye in your scout’s view).

His ACL line right now is absurd: .636/.680/1.318 with 4 HR and 12 RBI in just 5 games, plus excellent OBP and some athleticism in the corners.

Personality note that he “never hangs his head during slumps/losses” is exactly the mental profile you want in a future middle-order bat.

Short-term this doesn’t help the big club score runs, but it’s a reminder there’s a possible long-term RF solution growing in the complex.

Big Picture

You come out of this homestand:

On a 4-game losing streak,

Now 8½ back and trending toward “sell” territory unless the next couple of weeks turn quickly.

The formula is pretty clear:

The rotation is giving you chances, especially from guys like Smith and Schweitzer.

The bullpen and offense are sabotaging those chances – late walks, homers allowed, and long stretches of scoreless baseball.