Cardinals batter Alec Burleson fuels a potent offense, leading St. Louis to a 5-3 victory despite a bizarre bat flip and Marsee's solo blast.
MIAMI — The Miami Marlins could not solve Dustin May.
The St. Louis right-hander went 5.1 innings, allowing one run on six hits with five strikeouts, as the Cardinals won 5-3 on Tuesday.
The Marlins (11-13) have lost five of their last seven games.
There was a lot of lawlessness under "The Sheriff’s" watch Tuesday. Marlins right-hander Chris Paddack gave up five runs on eight hits with one walk and a season-high seven strikeouts.
“I thought Chris was good, I really did,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said during his postgame press conference. “You got to give them credit for moving the ball forward and finding some holes, but I think there was a bit of tough luck on his end tonight with some of the base hits.”
The Cardinals (14-9) rebounded after Monday’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak. St. Louis struck first with a leadoff double by JJ Wetherholt, who scored on Alec Burleson's single.
In a very odd plate appearance, Marlins centerfielder Jakob Marsee lost grip of his bat and watched it fly above the St. Louis dugout. As a young Cardinals fan pried the bat from the netting like King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, Marsee picked up another bat and hit a solo home run to tie the game 1-1 after the first inning.
Marsee went 3-for-4 to lead the Marlins at the plate, improving his batting average to .176 on the season. Marsee was coming off a rookie campaign in which he slashed .292/.363/.478 in 209 at-bats last year. McCullough said he is confident Marsee will soon “string together a good run.”
”He’s just too talented offensively. He does too many things well with how he controls the strike zone,” McCullough said. “It’s just a matter of time before he Jakob breaks out and really gets going.”
Wetherholt drew a walk in the third inning and advanced to third base on a single by Ivan Herrera. Burleson struck again, scoring Wetherholt on a fielder’s choice after the throw from Marlins first baseman Connor Norby went past catcher Liam Hicks.
The Cardinals added to their lead in the fourth inning. Masyn Winn led off with a single and scored on a two-run home run by Nathan Church, putting St. Louis up 4-1.
Burleson doubled to center field and scored on a single by Nolan Gorman in the fifth inning. Burleson went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Church, Herrera, and Winn each collected two hits for the Cardinals, who amassed 10 hits against Miami’s pitching.
Former Marlins reliever Ryne Stanek was tagged for two runs on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts. A series of walks loaded the bases for Heriberto Hernández to hit a two-run single to pull the Marlins within two runs in the eighth inning.
The rest of the St. Louis bullpen held the Marlins to one hit in three scoreless innings. Riley O’Brien secured his seventh save of the season and has maintained his 0.00 ERA.
The Marlins bullpen combo of John King and Tyler Phillips combined to go 4.1 innings with only two hits allowed with five strikeouts.
Marlins right hander Janson Junk (0-2, 4.50 ERA) will finish the six-game homestand he started on Wednesday at noon (ET), while the Cardinals will start Kyle Leary (2-2, 5.21 ERA) with the series on the line.
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