Sixto Sanchez had some special inspiration and incentive in his win against the Cubs

Ever since Sixto Sanchez wowed Phillies scouts enough to sign him at age 16, putting him on a path to the major leagues, he had the most fervent of supporters — his grandmother.

“She always told me just pray and have faith when you’re out there that you will do well and everything will be all right,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez’s grandmother passed away recently after contracting COVID-19.

Before he threw his first pitch Friday, Sanchez wrote his grandmother’s name, Pura Maria, on the mound dirt at Wrigley Field. He then grabbed the same dirt, squeezed it in his hand as he placed it near his heart.

Sanchez then started firing fastball after fastball often near or over 100 mph and often past the swinging bats of Cubs’ hitters for five scoreless innings that led to a 2-0 series-clinching victory over Chicago.

“For me, it was a great feeling to dedicate this start to my grandmother because she followed my journey since I was a little kid,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez struck out six, walked two batters, hit two others and gave up four hits (all singles) on 89 pitches.

At 22 years and 65 days old, Sanchez became the youngest pitcher in franchise history to make his playoff debut and the second-youngest pitcher in Marlins history to start a potential playoff-series clincher (22 years, 65 days).

It could have been easy for the Marlins to lose faith in Sanchez’s ability to handle postseason pressure after watching his last two starts of the regular season when he gave up nine earned runs in seven innings.

But manager Don Mattingly said this week that the team trusted his potential to deliver a dominant start as he did in his first five (1.69 ERA), and would have regretted not slotting him to start one of the games guaranteed to be played in the series.

The Cubs’ struggles hitting high-velocity pitching all season (.195 average on pitches thrown at 95 mph or higher) made Sanchez a difficult matchup for them.

Sanchez, who averaged 98.3 mph on his fastball on Friday according to Statcast, threw 66 fastballs all 95 mph or higher and drew 11 swings and misses. He threw 27 pitches at 99 mph or higher and seven pitches exceeded 100 mph.

Sanchez also got ahead of hitters — something he said he wasn’t doing during his previous two poor outings — throwing first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 22 batters he faced.

“He has incredible stuff and that gives him the confidence to go out there and compete,” Marlins outfielder Matt Joyce said. “You know this place would be absolutely crazy today if things were normal. But still, the energy and that excitement … he did an incredible job handling that situation as young as he is.”

Sanchez found himself in a couple of potentially dire situations in the fourth and fifth innings.

Still, he maintained his usual calm demeanor each time and escaped trouble.

After Sanchez walked Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber to start the inning, his defense bailed him out twice as Jon Berti snared a line drive from Kris Bryant.

Joyce made the defensive play of the game by throwing out Contreras at the plate after Jason Heyward singled to right.

Sanchez dialed up the heat with three 98-plus mph fastballs to retire Javy Baez on a fly out to right.

In the fifth, the Cubs loaded the bases with two outs when Sanchez hit Contreras. But on his fifth pitch to Schwarber, Sanchez used his changeup to induce an inning-ending fly ball to left field.

Sanchez, the Marlins’ top prospect, could be the team’s ace of the future.

For now, he’s given Miami a 1-2 Dominican-flavored punch at the top of their rotation along with Sandy Alcantara.

And he did it by delivering a performance that would have made his grandmother proud.

“I always take pride in my family seeing me succeed and do a good job,” Sanchez said. “I love for them to see me victorious. But this day was for my grandmother. I love her very much.”