MIAMI – After being swept in a three-game road series against the Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker felt his team had to turn it around quickly.
“Good teams stop the bleeding,” Schumaker said after a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night. “They don’t continue the streak. And it felt like today was the day.”
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Nick Fortes hit a go-ahead RBI single in a seventh inning rally to open a seven-game homestand for Miami that will include three more games against the Cardinals and a three-game series against Philadelphia.
In front of a home crowd of 19,638, pinch hitter Yuli Gurriel tied it in the seventh with a two-run double against reliever Andre Pallante after two straight walks. The Marlins then inserted the speedy Jon Berti to pinch run for Gurriel, and Berti scored on Fortes’ ground-ball single.
“He’s a winner,” Miami starter Braxton Garrett said of Gurriel.
Marlins reliever Tanner Scott worked a scoreless eighth to preserve the lead despite giving up a single to Paul DeJong and hitting Dylan Carlson with a pitch. And A.J. Puk got the final three outs for his 14 save of the season.
“They are throwing in leverage situations against the meat of the order every single time I put them out there,” Schumaker said. “Puk had to go through the heart of a really good offense and got out of it.”
The victory gave Miami 11 wins in its last 14 home games and improved the Marlins to 12-1 in one-run games at loanDepot Park. Their 20-5 overall record in one-run games leads the majors.
DeJong had broken a 2-2 tie in the sixth with an RBI double for the Cardinals, who are last place in the NL Central.
Willson Contreras led off the inning with a double against Garrett then scored on DeJong’s line drive off reliever Andrew Nardi. Huascar Brazoban (3-1) got the last two outs of the seventh for the win.
Garrett struck out six and allowed seven hits and two runs.
Contreras, who was 3 for 4, tied it in the second inning with his ninth home run of the season — a solo shot that went 383 feet to left. He also singled in the first and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas struck out two and gave up two runs and four hits in six innings. After giving up all four hits in the first two innings, he retired 14 straight batters and did not allow a runner until back-to-back walks of Garrett Cooper and Jean Segura in the seventh to start the Marlins’ rally.
Pallante (2-1) replaced Mikolas with the tying runs on base and took the loss.
Miami used a three-hit first to take a 2-0 lead. Luis Arraez led off with a single, Jorge Soler doubled, Bryan De La Cruz drove in Arraez with a grounder and Jesus Sanchez hit an RBI double.
Arraez was 1 for 4 bringing his batting average to .388.
Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly in the seventh drove in Lars Nootbaar to make it 4-2.
The Cardinals blew their 17th save opportunity of the season — the most in the NL and tied with the Chicago White Sox for most in the majors.
“You have to make everything right. Make a mistake and lose ballgame,” Mikolas said. “If the games are that tight, any little mistake can cost you.”
ROSTER MOVES
Cardinals: Designated OF Oscar Mercado for assignment and recalled first baseman Luken Baker from Triple-A Memphis. ... Signed RHP Chen-Wei Lin, the franchise’s first player signed out of Taiwan.
Marlins: Placed OF Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. ... Called up OF Dane Myers from Triple-A Jacksonville .. Designated RHP Eli Villalobos for assignment.
TRAINERS ROOM
Marlins: RHP Matt Barnes (left hip impingement) is scheduled to pitch back-to-back outings on a rehab assignment in Jupiter starting Monday night. ... RHP Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement) threw a 25-pitch bullpen Monday ... RHP Max Meyer (Tommy John surgery) will begin a bullpen progression this week. ... RHP Johnny Cueto was scheduled to pitch seven innings with Triple A Jacksonville on Monday night.
UP NEXT
LHP Jesus Luzardo (6-5, 3.53) will start for the Marlins on Tuesday against Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (3-3, 7.45).
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