Randy Wolf allows 4 runs on 9 hits as Marlins drop second straight to Cubs
CHICAGO (AP) -- Marlins pitcher Randy Wolf likes to live on the edge -- of the plate.
He couldn't find it consistently Saturday and he served up a few pitches that the Marlins feasted on.
Junior Lake hit two home runs, Emilio Bonifacio added a two-run shot and Chicago extended its winning streak to five with a 5-2 win over Miami.
"(Wolf) didn't get a whole lot on the edges today and he's a guy that kind of relies on the edges of the plate," Miami manager Mike Redmond said. "They made him throw it over the plate and they got some big hits."
Wolf (1-2) gave up four runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings. He said he had trouble controlling his curveball, especially early, and that limited his repertoire.
"(My command) came along a little bit later in the game, but for me fastball command and that curveball, throwing those for strikes is big," Wolf said.
Jeff Samardzija (2-5) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, striking out eight. Pedro Strop got his second save.
"I really love how we're playing right now as a team in all phases," Samardzija said. "To win big league ballgames you have to have all three or four phases of the game. I love the way we're swinging it right now, and as a pitcher it gives you a lot of confidence to go out and pound the zone."
Lake, who has eight homers, had a pair of solo shots for the second multihomer game of his career.
"I think everybody's contributing in some shape or form," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "There are a lot of different things, a lot of little things. They're just playing the game."
Christian Yelich went 2 for 4 with a homer for the Marlins.
The Marlins struck first when Yelich homered in the third inning for a 1-0 lead.
The Cubs went in front in the bottom half when Samardzija singled and Bonifacio hammered a 3-2 pitch into the left-field bleachers for a 2-1 lead. It was Bonifacio's first homer since July 30 last season.
"That was great," Samardzija said. "I got to jog around the bases instead of having to score from first."
The Cubs stretched the lead to 3-1 in the fifth when Lake hit a long homer into the shrubbery in center field, connecting with a 79 mph changeup on a 2-1 count.
"Those mistakes that hurt me was throwing the ball over the plate like that," said Wolf, who threw a season-high 107 pitches. "It's my job to do a better job getting the ball on the corner instead of over the plate."
Miami got to 3-2 in the sixth when Giancarlo Stanton doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Casey McGehee's groundout to first base.
Stanton finished 1 for 4 after an 0-for-6 effort during Friday's extra-inning loss. He nearly had a homer of his own with his drive to the deepest part of the park in center field. Redmond blamed the swirling Wrigley Field winds.
"That (double) was a big hit," Redmond said. "He crushed that ball to center, too. I still can't believe that ball didn't go out compared to those other two."
The Cubs got a run back in the bottom half when Castro led off with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and scored when Wolf threw a wild pitch with Mike Olt at the plate.
"It was too bad I threw that wild pitch," said Wolf, who was removed a batter later after giving up a double to Darwin Barney. "Once that run scores I just got to think about getting two outs."
Lake bumped the lead to 5-2 an inning later when he went deep for the second time on a line drive to left against reliever Chris Hatcher.
Miami has had trouble maintaining the momentum it had coming off four-straight wins against Tampa Bay, including an 11-run outburst Thursday.
"Two back-to-back games we've been pretty quiet," Redmond said. "Coming from Tampa where we were really swinging the bats well in that series, we've cooled off a little bit. We've got to get that going."
NOTES: Redmond said C Jarrod Saltalamacchia (concussion) has not participated in baseball activities since being hit on his catching mask by a foul tip on May 31 and that it was likely Saltalamacchia would be sent to the 15-day disabled list. ... RHP Jake Arrieta (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will face RHP Henderson Alvarez (3-3, 2.62) Sunday in the finale of the 3-game series. Alvarez's three wins are all shutouts.
