Marlins log first walk-off of season to beat Cubs and back Jesus Luzardo’s strong start

After failing to make it through five innings in each of his past two starts, Miami Marlins lefty Jesus Luzardo had a bounceback outing on Friday.

And at the very end, his offense backed him up.

Jean Segura hit a walk-off single to lead the Marlins to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs to begin a three-game series at loanDepot park. It was the Marlins’ first walk-off win of the season.

“He’s one of the leaders in the clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of Segura. “He’s the guy that tries to get everybody going, no matter how frustrated he is. The guy loves to play baseball.”

Miami improves to 14-13 on the season. Chicago falls to 14-11.

Jorge Soler led off the ninth inning with a single through the left side against Chicago’s Michael Rucker. Garrett Hampson pinch-ran for Soler. Luis Arraez and Avisail Garcia were then hit by pitches in consecutive plate appearances to load the bases with no outs before Segura hit an 0-2 pitch up the middle and past a diving Dansby Swanson to score Hampson.

Segura also had the game-tying hit in the seventh.

“They believe in me,” Segura said.

It marked the second consecutive game in which Miami rallied in the ninth to win after scoring five runs in the final frame on Thursday against the Atlanta Braves.

“There’s never any quit in our guys,” Luzardo said.

This time, it backed one of Luzardo’s best starts of the season.

Luzardo threw 6 1/3 innings, holding the Cubs to just five hits and two walks while striking out six.

Two of those five hits went for extra bases, with both players who logged those hits ultimately scoring. Nelson Velazquez slugged a two-out, first-pitch home run to left in the third to open scoring, while Cody Bellinger hit a one-out triple in the seventh to end Luzardo’s night. Eric Hosmer’s pinch-hit single against Huascar Brazoban drove in Bellinger to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

Brazoban limited the damage to just the one run before Dylan Floro and A.J. Puk pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to set up the walk-off.

Overall, it was a trend back in the right direction for Luzardo, who now has three quality starts (fewer than three earned runs while pitching at least six innings) through six outings this season.

“It was huge,” Luzardo said. “Just a confidence thing. I obviously didn’t want it to get worse and worse, but just a big thing for me to keep us in the ballgame and give us a chance.”

The Marlins scored their first two runs in the third (Jesus Sanchez scoring from third when Jon Berti hit into a double play) and the seventh (Segura single to left that scored Arraez, who singled and moved to third on a Garcia single).

Miami remains undefeated this season when holding opponents to four runs or fewer (14-0), in one-run games (8-0) and when wearing their throwback teal uniforms on Friday home games (3-0).

“It feels good,” Segura said. “Every time you put a W on the board, it feels good. It’s not just about me; it’s about the team. We played good baseball.”

Roster moves and injury updates

▪ The Marlins on Friday selected the contract of right-handed relief pitcher Johan Quezada and designated for assignment left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer.

▪ Right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto (right biceps) is scheduled to throw four innings in an extended spring training game on Monday.

▪ Left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers (left biceps) is still not throwing.

▪ Right-handed pitcher Sixto Sanchez (right shoulder) threw 34 pitches over two innings in an extended spring training game on Wednesday.

▪ Right-handed pitcher JT Chargois (right oblique) is playing catch out to 120 feet.

▪ Right-handed pitcher Tommy Nance (right shoulder) is scheduled to throw a 35-pitch bullpen session Saturday in Jupiter.