MIAMI -- Life in baseball as a reliever can be a thankless job. When the job gets done, it’s expected. When it doesn’t, journalists and fans alike will question every decision.

Miami’s bullpen has been taxed for most of the season. Because the rotation averages just 4.88 innings per game, the relief corps had thrown the third-most frames (107 1/3) in the Majors. Pair that with Thursday’s long rain delay -- plus the club’s propensity for close games -- and the Marlins found themselves without closer A.J. Puk and setup man Dylan Floro on Saturday.

No matter, as five relievers took the mound with varying degrees of success in a 7-6 victory over the Cubs at loanDepot park. In a reversal of 2022’s misfortunes, Miami (15-13) is 12-0 when leading after eight innings and 9-0 in one-run games.

“We had guys step up for other guys in the bullpen,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I'm not sure what it was last year, but I do know that when guys are walking guys or give up a hit or two and they don't feel great, we have options down there, which is nice to have.

“And [we have] guys that can punch people out -- swing and miss in the bullpen is real, and good teams have swing and miss and not just put-it-in-play kind of bullpen arms. When you have that, then you can get out of big spots.”

With the Marlins up 7-2 in the sixth inning, southpaw Andrew Nardi took over for starter Edward Cabrera and was unable to retire the four batters he faced. Huascar Brazoban, a 33-year-old righty who didn’t make his MLB debut until last July, inherited the bases loaded. 

A strength for the ballclub early this season has been the bullpen’s ability to work out of trouble. Entering Saturday, the Marlins had allowed a Major League-low 19 percent of inherited runners to score. 

Brazoban got pinch-hitter Edwin Ríos to strike out looking. On Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly to left, Bryan De La Cruz hit cutoff man Garrett Hampson, who caught Eric Hosmer straying too far off second to end the threat with the Marlins ahead 7-4.

“I will say for a situation like that, you have to be a little cold-blooded,” Brazoban said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “It takes time to handle situations like that. But with situations like that, you have hitters also anxious to swing to get the run. So something that works for me in that situation is that I just throw pitches that look in the zone, and then they normally go for it, and that has been working for me.

“Very proud. It feels so good, because as a reliever, that's your job right there. You’ve got to turn off the fire, and that's what we're looking for.”

When lefty Steven Okert walked the bases loaded in the eighth, righty Matt Barnes came in hoping to clean up the mess. Schumaker thought of pulling Okert a batter sooner so Barnes could face the right-handed-hitting Patrick Wisdom, but the club was so light on arms he didn’t have much of a choice with five outs to go. Pinch-hitter Yan Gomes reached on an RBI infield single and Hoerner produced an RBI groundout. Barnes then induced a full-count popout in foul territory against Dansby Swanson.

First-year manager Schumaker said his job is to try and put guys in the right situations. He understands it’s not always going to be perfect, and Saturday was the perfect example: some guys had their stuff -- others, not so much.

“[I] put [Barnes] in a really difficult spot as well, and [he] landed his curveball in big spots and is throwing his hardest he's been all season,” Schumaker said. “He did an excellent job.”

General manager Kim Ng wanted to deepen the bullpen over the offseason, and she did so by adding Puk and Barnes. With Miami nursing a one-run lead, Schumaker handed the ball to southpaw Tanner Scott, who led the Marlins with 20 saves in 2022 but has been in a setup role in ‘23.

Facing the heart of the order, Scott got Ian Happ to ground out. After Seiya Suzuki reached on a single, Cody Bellinger and Trey Mancini struck out. With adrenaline likely pumping through his veins, Scott’s average fastball was up by 2.7 mph and his slider by 1.2 mph compared to non-save situations.

“We have great arms, so everyone's been in certain situations,” Scott said. “We’ve got a really good bullpen. That gives us pretty good depth, even when Floro and Puk are down. It's nice.”