Marlins continue to be a Cubs postseason nemesis, one win from advancing

Nothing quite equates to Miami Marlins postseason baseball dominance.

The Miami Marlins stun the Chicago Cubs by way of the long ball in Game 1 on Wednesday.

For the first time since winning the 2003 World Series, the Marlins have won a postseason game. Fate would have it this was their first trip to the postseason since winning it all 17 years ago. To date, the Marlins are 6-0 all time in their postseason series. They are now one win away from making it 7-0. They can thank Corey Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar for stealing Game 1 at Wrigley.

If you don’t think it’s starting to feel like it’s 2003, well, it is.

In their illustrious history, the Marlins have never won a division title. The other team in baseball that holds that awful distinction with them are their 1993 MLB expansion brothers in the Colorado Rockies. Though they’ve only met in the postseason once, everybody remembers what happened in the 2003 NLCS between the Marlins and the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Up 1-0 in the top of the seventh, Dickerson took Kyle Hendricks opposite field on a three-run bomb. Two batters later, Aguilar did the same with Starling Marte on base to make it 5-1, Fish. That would be the deciding score in the crucial Game 1 of this best-of-seven series. Sandy Alcantara got the win for Miami, as they Marlins are now one win away from getting back to the NLDS.

Should the Fish advance, they will take on the winner of the NL Wild Card series between the division rival Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds. Atlanta took Game 1 of its series at home, thanks to timely hitting in the bottom of the 13th inning. Freddie Freeman drove in Cristian Pache to life Atlanta to a 1-0 Game 1 victory. The winner of these two series will meet in Texas.

Against all odds, the Marlins not only made the postseason, but did so while having a coronavirus outbreak internally at the start of the year. This is a team that most prognosticators expected would finish in dead last in the NL East. Well, now they’re one of 16 teams to make the postseason field, and they might be one of eight to play in a best-of-five NLDS series.

If you’re not convinced the Marlins are winning the World Series, what more proof do you need?