MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Miami, FL

CHICAGO -- Miguel Amaya could not help himself. As he stood on the field after Saturday's win, surveying the Wrigley Field stands and listening to the fans joining together in song, the rookie catcher joined in as the television camera rolled.

"Go Cubs, go," Amaya sang. "Hey Chicago, waddaya say? The Cubs are gonna win today."

Indeed, the Cubs had just pulled off a 4-2 comeback win for the Friendly Confines faithful, and it was one that Amaya and his family will not soon forget. With his parents, Max and Anny, in the stands -- his father waving Panama's flag -- the catcher collected his first Major League hit.

In an error-filled eighth inning by the Marlins that swung the momentum Chicago's way, manager David Ross called upon Amaya to pinch-hit against tough lefty A.J. Puk. The rookie delivered a single that bounced up the middle, through the infield grass, helped by a dose of good luck.

"Baseball gods, man," Amaya said with a smile.

Truly.

The 24-year-old catcher had crushed the handful of balls he put in play since being called up from Double-A Tennessee on Tuesday. Amaya sent five pitches into play -- each clocking in at over 100 mph off the bat. All five resulted in outs.

With one out in the eighth and Nick Madrigal standing on second -- following his two-run, go-ahead single -- Amaya worked the count full and connected on a 95 mph fastball from Puk. The ball bounced high over the pitcher, returned to Earth and then skipped just under the edge of second baseman Xavier Edward's glove.

The hit checked in at 67.4 mph, per Statcast.

"That exit velo stuff is overrated, isn't it?" Ross quipped.

"He's been barreling balls left and right," Madrigal said. "I had a funny feeling it would be on something that's soft. Usually, baseball's one of those things. [You get] one of those to fall in and then a bunch of hits come after that."

Miguel Amaya's first 5 balls in play in the Majors flew off the bat at...100.2 mph104.3 mph102.1 mph102.5 mph103.9 mphAll outs.His first MLB hit was 67.4 mph."That exit velo stuff is overrated, isn't it?" joked manager David Ross."Baseball gods, man," said Amaya.

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) May 6, 2023

In the stands, Amaya's parents embraced and jumped up and down.

"They're living the dream, too," said the rookie. "They're crying so much. They're excited. And they feel like they hit that ball, too."

Amaya then caught a one-two-three ninth inning from reliever Adbert Alzolay, who notched only his second career save. One game earlier, Amaya was behind the plate for lefty Justin Steele, who is one of baseball's top starters at the moment.

Steele entered Friday's outing having allowed no more than two earned runs in 13 consecutive starts. It is a streak not seen by a Cubs pitcher since Jake Arrieta's near-untouchable run across 2015-16. Amaya stepped right in, navigating through seven innings with Steele, who upped his streak to 14 such outings in a row.

"That was one of the guys back at the alt site I was throwing to, facing all the time," said Steele, referring to the 2020 season. "It's really special to work with him in the big leagues. He's worked his tail off to get here. He's a really special kid."

“They’re living the dream, too. They’re crying so much. They’re excited. And they feel like they hit that ball, too.” —Cubs rookie Miguel Amaya, on getting his first career hit with his parents at Wrigley Field pic.twitter.com/OtOmJUnkjy

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) May 6, 2023

Get the Latest From MLB

Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball.

Steele hinted at it in his comments, but Amaya's road to Chicago has been filled with road blocks.

He was a two-time participant in the All-Star Futures Game when the Cubs added him to the 40-man roster in November of 2019. Then came the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, followed by multiple injury setbacks that limited Amaya to 63 total games across '21-22.

Amaya was still limited during Spring Training this year, but found moments to learn from the veteran catchers and get reps in outside of Cactus League games. Amaya then opened the year with Double-A, posting a robust 1.070 OPS through 13 games before the Cubs called.

"So far," Ross said, "for a guy that has had a lot of adversity and layoff and working his way back, and didn't get to get a whole lot of Spring Training at-bats with us and do some things with us, I've been impressed so far."

Yan Gomes was hit with a back swing on Monday in Washington and landed on the concussion injured list on Wednesday. In between, Amaya was summoned from Tennessee, and then asked to step in for a team in win-now mode with one of the NL's top pitching staffs.

"He looks like an everyday player," Madrigal said. "He's done such an unbelievable job. Coming from Double-A, that's a huge jump. From the stadium to the pitching to everything, and it looks like he's handled it so well."

And after Saturday's win, Amaya knew just what to do as he soaked in the atmosphere.

"Singing that song, it's everything," Amaya said. "In front of the fans and watching that, this is insane. Wrigley Field is electric."

Did you like this story?

In this story:

Jordan Bastian covers the Cubs for MLB.com. He previously covered Cleveland from 2011-18 and Toronto from 2005-10. Subscribe to his Cubs Beat newsletter, and follow on Twitter @MLBastian.

CHICAGO -- — Nick Madrigal’s two-run single in the eighth inning lifted the Chicago Cubs to a 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.

Jorge Soler hit a solo homer for the Marlins, who’ve dropped five in a row since sweeping the Cubs last weekend in Miami.

Madrigal’s go-ahead hit off A.J. Puk (3-1) gave the Cubs their first lead. The next batter, pinch-hitter Miguel Amaya, followed with an RBI single – his first career hit.

“I think any kid growing up dreams of those situations,” Madrigal said. “I definitely want to be the guy in those situations.” Two of the three runs charged to Puk were unearned thanks to Yuli Gurriel’s inning-opening fielding error"

Outfielder Peyton Burdick also made an error in the eighth.

"(Our pitchers) were all good,” he said. “They all did their jobs; it just (stinks) I didn’t do mine.”

Reliever Keegan Thompson (2-2) pitched three innings for the win and Adbert Alzolay worked the ninth for his first save of the season.

Marlins reliever Matt Barnes – named the starter a few hours before the game – pitched the first inning before giving way to the bullpen, which hummed along until the seventh, where the Cubs loaded the bases before Huascar Brazoban struck out Seiya Suzuki to end the inning.

Puk, the sixth Miami pitcher, wasn’t as lucky.

Chicago’s Drew Smyly, who’d won three of his last four starts, gave up both Miami runs in the first 3 1/3 innings. He finished an early day with three hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

CUETO LEAVES EARLY

Marlins RHP Johnny Cueto left a rehab start for Triple-A Jacksonville on Saturday after falling while trying to cover first base. It’s not clear if this will delay his return to the big-league club. Cueto, who lasted just an inning in his only start this season, has been on the 15-day injured list since April 4 with right biceps tightness.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Kerry Wood was on the mound to throw out the first pitch exactly 25 years after tying a major-league record by striking out 20 Houston batters at Wrigley Field. Roger Clemens (twice), Randy Johnson and Max Scherzer are the only other pitchers to claim the rare feat. Wood also led the seventh-inning-stretch singalong.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: Manager Skip Schumaker said reliever JT Chargois (right oblique strain) felt good after Friday’s rehab outing for Low-A Jupiter but did not speculate when he’d return from the 15-day injured list. … Barnes made his third career start and first since Aug. 22, 2015, for Boston.

Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (shoulder strain) said he felt good after throwing a bullpen session before the game. The right-hander is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday and expects to do it again five days later.

UP NEXT Miami’s Sandy Alcantara (1-3, 5.09) faces fellow right-hander Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 4.45) in Sunday afternoon’s series finale.

------

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP--Sports

Lasrt year's winner and Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen topped practice on Friday, leading Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

What time does qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix start?

Qualifying for the Miami GP will begin at 4pm local time (-4 GMT) at the Miami International Autodrome.

Can’t find your country or region in the list? Check the schedule page for the broadcast times in your local timezone.

2023 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix session timings in different timezones

How can I watch qualifying?

Formula 1 is broadcast live in nearly every country around the world.

Europe:

Americas:

Asia:

Oceania:

Africa:

Can I stream qualifying?

Viewers from selected countries can subscribe to F1 TV to stream qualifying on a device of their choice. Some local broadcasters such as Sky TV (UK) and Movistar (Spain) also offer their own on-demand service.

Live commentary

Motorsport.com will bring the latest updates from Miami throughout the weekend, including live commentary during qualifying on Friday.

Miami GP - FP1 results:

Miami GP - FP2 results:

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Video

Report

Report

Feature

It's now a best-of-5 series and the Heat have home-court advantage and a rested Jimmy Butler could shift the series against New York.

NBA playoff scoring leader Jimmy Butler was with the Miami Heat for their film session Thursday, without any clarity yet if his sprained ankle will be healed enough for him to play in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

On Friday, Miami Heat coach Erik Spolestra said Butler worked out with the team, but they won’t update his status until much closer to tipoff. Overall, though, Spolestra refuses to tip his hand on Butler’s status.

Spoelstra says Jimmy Butler worked today. Says update at about 2:15 Saturday. “But we know what his intentions are.” According to an NBA source, Butler is planning to play.

“No update. … I’m not going to get into all the minutiae of it,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “When we find out how he is feeling on Saturday, we’ll let you know. That’s what the deal is.”

Butler missed Game 2 of the series — a 111-105 win for the Knicks — because of the ankle, which he sprained with about 5 minutes left in Miami’s Game 1 victory at Madison Square Garden. Butler took to social media to show that he was putting himself through a shooting workout Thursday night.

“Our guys love to compete, any place, anywhere, against any team,” Spoelstra said. “We have the three days off in between. It definitely helps, or at least in theory helps us gear up. But if we could have played this game (Thursday), our guys would have loved that as well.”

It was only the fourth game Butler has missed since the last week of January, and two of those were the final two games of the regular season with the Heat locked into the play-in tournament at that point.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, after Game 2, made clear that his team will be ready for a Butler comeback.

“You already know the answer to that,” Thibodeau said. “We will. That’s sort of the nature of the beast right now for everyone. You go in, you know guys are nicked-up this time of the year and so there’s always possibilities that guys could be in or out. … If Jimmy’s available, then we’ll have a plan for him.”

The training room has been a busy place this week for Miami, which has already lost shooting guard Victor Oladipo (knee) for the remainder of the season and shooting guard Tyler Herro (hand) for several more weeks. Wing players Max Strus and Caleb Martin both were dealing with some back pain at times in Game 2, though were able to finish the game.

“I’m good,” Strus said Thursday. “Nothing’s wrong with me.”

Having Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with no games sounds like a needed breather for both sides. New York’s Julius Randle returned in Game 2 from an ankle sprain, and point guard Jalen Brunson has been playing through an ankle issue.

Brunson “didn’t do much” in practice on Thursday, Thibodeau said, noting his status is day-to-day.

“I think the time off does us well, does us justice,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’re not complaining about it at all. I think it’s good for our team. I think it’s good for our brains to kind of get a little bit of a break from it, but we still can get the mental reps and all that stuff, so it’s good from that aspect.”

Lowry indicated that he wouldn’t be surprised if Butler tries to play.

“I know how competitive he is,” Lowry said. “I would be optimistic, but who knows. Honestly, we’ve got to go day by day with Jimmy, so we’ll see what happens on Saturday at 3:30.”

Going back to the final two games of last season’s Eastern Conference finals, Butler has been on a playoff tear. He’s averaged 36.9 points — and 40.5 minutes — in his last eight postseason games, on 57% shooting from the field while averaging 7.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

In the six playoff games so far this season, he’s averaging the league-best 35.5 points on 59% shooting, with 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Included in that: a career-high 56-point effort against Milwaukee in Game 4 of Round 1, followed by a 42-point outburst two nights later as the Heat became the first No. 8 seed in NBA history to lose no more than one game on the way to beating a No. 1 seed.

Butler’s 35.5-point average is just ahead of Phoenix’s Devin Booker, who will take a 35.4-point-per-game average in these playoffs into Game 3 of the Suns’ Western Conference semifinal series against Denver on Friday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.