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Major League Baseball
Chi. Cubs 3, Miami 2
When: 8:05 PM ET, Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 81°
Umpires: Home - Mike Muchlinski, 1B - Marty Foster, 2B - Mike Winters, 3B - Mark Wegner
Attendance: 40419

CHICAGO -- Jason Hammel had a rough start and just one pitch working on Tuesday.

But after loading the bases in the first inning and escaping unscathed, he settled down to pitch six scoreless innings for his career-best 11th win as the Chicago Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 3-2.

"Today I was a one-pitch pitcher," said Hammel (11-5). "I really didn't have a good feel for any of the breaking pitches, curveball and the slider and we didn't throw any change ups, (so) the fastball played well today."

Dexter Fowler gave Hammel and the Cubs a lift, going 3-for-4 with two runs and factored in all three scores as the Cubs (65-41) won their third in a row and clinched their fifth consecutive home series.

Closer Aroldis Chapman pitched a one-two-three ninth with one strikeout for his 22nd save of the year and second since coming to Chicago last month.

Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki struck out in a seventh-inning pinch-hit appearance and remained two hits shy of 3,000 for his career.

Hammel was pulled for a pinch hitter in the seventh after allowing just four hits, walking two and striking out three.

He was quick to credit rookie catcher Willson Contreras.

"He basically guided me through that (first inning) because I wasn't commanding the slider that well," Hammel said. "He has gotten better every start I've worked with him with the game-calling, blocking and he's even coming up to me and giving me hugs now. ... He's got wise words, kind words behind his young ears."

Marlins starter Jose Fernandez (12-6) took his second straight loss. Miami (57-50) has dropped two straight heading into Wednesday's series finale at Wrigley Field.

"It doesn't matter how many he gave up, we only put across two runs," said Miami's Chris Johnson. "But we kept fighting. You've to tip your hat to Hammel, he kept us off balance and then their bullpen came in and did a good job."

Miami manager Don Mattingly said Fernandez,

Trailing 3-0 in the seventh, the Marlins broke the shutout as Adeiny Hechavarria singled home Derek Dietrich off Cubs reliever Pedro Strop with no outs.

After Suzuki -- who pinch-hit for Fernandez -- struck out, J.T. Realmuto trimmed the margin to 3-2 with a base hit to right that drove in Johnson.

Strop struck out Martin Prado for a second out and was replaced by left-hander Travis Wood, who got out of the inning thanks to a diving catch by left fielder Chris Coghlan.

Fernandez allowed three runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out eight over six innings.

"He threw a lot of pitches there in the fifth and it looked like he wore down a bit in that inning," Mattingly said. "He threw 30-something that inning and that kind of put him in harm's way.

Giancarlo Stanton and Dietrich each had two hits to pace Miami.

Miami loaded the bases in the top of the first but came up empty when Dietrich grounded to Hammel.

The Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning as Fowler led off with a triple to right and scored on Contreras' infield single.

Chicago added a run in the third. Fowler scored from third base on a fielder's choice as Anthony Rizzo sent a one-out pop fly to left that was followed by a throw to first that allowed Fowler to come home.

Fowler beat a subsequent relay to the catcher.

He collected an RBI with his third hit of the night in the fifth, scoring Coghlan from second for a 3-0 lead.

NOTES: Miami OF Ichiro Suzuki was not in the starting lineup for the second straight night and remained two hits from 3,000 for his career. He appeared as a pinch hitter on Monday but grounded out. ... Marlins manager Don Mattingly said he'll switch RHP David Phelps from the bullpen to spot starter at least for Friday's opener of a three-game weekend series at Colorado. ... Miami sends RHP Tom Koehler (8-8, 4.18 ERA) against Chicago RHP John Lackey (8-7, 3.69) in a Wednesday afternoon game that wraps up the series for the season. ... The Cubs have a .994 fielding percentage since the All-Star break, tops in the National League and second behind Baltimore's .995 in the majors. ... 1B Anthony Rizzo had a single, double, triple, walk and hit by a pitch on Monday, making him the first Cub with that distinction since 1913. ... Chicago added RHP Joe Smith to the roster. He was acquired Monday via trade with the Los Angeles Angels. The Cubs optioned RHP Spencer Patton to Triple-A Iowa.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Miami   Chi. Cubs
Jose Fernandez Player Jason Hammel
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 6.0
8 Strikeouts 3
8 Hits 4
4.50 ERA 0.00
Hitting
Miami   Chi. Cubs
Derek Dietrich Player Dexter Fowler
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
2 TB 5
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Miami 9 0 9 .257 15 7 2 2 0 0
Chi. Cubs 9 0 11 .290 18 10 2 3 1 1