Win-Kyle Lohse (7-2) L-Carlos Zambrano (4-6) SV-Jason Motte (16)
One day following the heroic performance from Yadier Molina in the depth of the Cardinals' comeback in the series' opener against the Miami Marlins, the offense broke it up again on Tuesday night--except this time, they did it early--and that is all that they needed.
The Cardinals scored all five of there runs in the top half of the first-inning and defeated the Marlins 5-to-2. Carlos Beltran started it out with an RBI-single that drove in lead-off man Rafael Furcal to get it started. Following that, Allen Craig drove in Matt Holliday on an error by the Marlins' Jose Reyes, and Molina belted a three run bomb to deep left-field that drove in both Beltran and Craig.
Kyle Lohse (7-2) continued his superb start this season on the mound, as he picked up his seventh win on the year after he allowed just two runs on four hits. Lohse improved his ERA to a team-low from the starters to 2.82 overall. He struck out four batters, as well as walking just two.
The Marlins got there offense from a solo home-run from Giancarlo Stanton in the bottom of the first, as well as an RBI sacrifice fly to center from Gary Dobbs in the fourth inning. Carlos Zambrano got the lost for the Marlins as he fell to 4-6 on the season, giving up five runs (all unearned) and seven hits.
The Cardinals improved there win streak to four games straight, and got the save from Jason Motte, which was his sixteenth overall on the young season. With the win, the Cardinals kept pace with first-place Cincinnati, staying two games out in the NL Central division race.
Game 3: (Wednesday night): Saint Louis Cardinals 3, Miami Marlins 5
Win-Annibal Sanchez (4-6) L-Sam Freeman (0-1) SV-Heath Bell (15)
With the Cardinals going for there fifth win in a row and a sweep of the new-look Marlins on Wednesday night, the wheels on the bus fell apart in the bottom half of the seventh-inning, leading them to a much-needed and crucial 5-to-3 victory.
As they held a two-run lead from the top of the first up until the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cardinals got a clutch first-career solo home-run off of the bat of Tony Cruz in the top of the seventh inning--which put St. Louis up 3-to-2--but that didn't seem to last very long.
In the bottom half of the inning, Miami answered the Cruz home run with back-to-back home runs of there own from the bats of both John Buck and Logan Morrison. The bombs put Miami back up on the scoreboard by a score of 4-to-3, which ultimately ended up being the game-winner on the night. Omar Infante doubled in the bottom of the eighth inning that brought in Dobbs, making that the final run of the night for the game.
The Cardinals got there offensive output from a sac-fly from Carlos Beltran, an RBI-double from David Freese, and then the solo blast off the bat of Tony Cruz.
Joe Kelly got the start for the Cardinals--and despite an impressive start in which he allowed just two runs on five hits, he picked up a no-decision (but improved his ERA to 3.38 overall on the season. Recieving the loss for the Cardinals was Sam Freeman (0-1), as he pitched just a third of an inning--allowing a solo home-run in which when the game was tied. Annibal Sanchez (4-6) recieved the win for the Marlins, making sure they avoided being swept.
The Cardinals, who are 40-36 overall on the season, are now currently tied for second place in the National League Central with the Pittsburgh Pirates--who is coming to town for a pivitol three game weekend series matchup starting tomorrow night. The game will deliver the first pitch at 7:15 and will be televised on FSN Midwest.
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