Yu Darvish had a rough go of it at the beginning of his tenure with the Chicago Cubs, but he put it together in 2020 and will try to guide the team to victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Darvish went 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA, lasting at least six innings in each of his past 11 starts with three or fewer earned runs given up in all but one. He also has done a good job of limiting home runs (0.6 per nine innings) and walks (1.7).
The Marlins will look to Sixto Sanchez to outduel Darvish. The rookie righty was roughed up for five runs in four innings by the Nationals in his last start, but for the season, he was 3-2 with a 3.46 ERA. And he has a 100 mph fastball in his arsenal.
The Cubs entered the postseason with the best bullpen ERA in the majors during the month of September, but scored just 3.39 runs per game at home this season, by far the lowest mark in MLB as every other team registered at least 3.83 runs per game at home.
With the Cubs playing seven of Darvish’s last 10 starts to the Under and five of Sanchez’s past six staying Under, Thursday’s tilt figures to fall in line with the low-scoring trend at Wrigley Field, where 60 percent of Cubs home games in 2020 went Under.
The play: Marlins-Cubs total, Under.



