St. Louis 5, Miami 4
When: 2:15 PM ET, Sunday, July 8, 2012
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Temperature:
94°
Umpires:
Home -
Phil Cuzzi, 1B -
Manny Gonzalez, 2B -
Greg Gibson, 3B -
Gerry Davis
Attendance:
38436
By SportsDirect Inc.
Cardinals 5, Marlins 4: Rafael Furcal singled home the tying and winning runs in the ninth inning against Miami closer Heath Bell as host St. Louis rallied to win the rubber game of the three-game series.
Pinch hitter Austin Kearns hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to put the Marlins in control, and the bullpen held it there until Bell (2-5) took the ball.
The struggling closer loaded the bases with one out and allowed a sacrifice fly by Tony Cruz that trimmed the lead to 4-3. A 10-pitch walk to Daniel Descalso with two outs loaded the bases again, and Furcal slapped a 1-2 pitch through the left side of the infield for the game-winner.
Omar Infante had three hits and scored a run for the Marlins, who dropped three games below .500 heading into the All-Star break.
Mitchell Boggs (2-1) recorded the final out in the ninth for the win.
Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez allowed two runs on five hits over six innings and struck out three, putting him in position to beat the Cardinals for the second time in 12 days before Bell's blown save.
The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the first, when Hanley Ramirez stole third and scored when catcher Cruz's throw went into left field. But St. Louis moved in front on RBI singles by Skip Schumaker in the second and Furcal in the fifth.
Kearns put the Marlins ahead in the seventh, turning on a 2-0 slider from Victor Marte (2-2) for his first pinch-hit homer since July 18, 2011.
Miami's Greg Dobbs and Logan Morrison and St. Louis' Matt Holliday all extended their hitting streaks to 11 games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ramirez left the game in the sixth inning with a right finger laceration that required stitches after he punched a fan in the dugout. He vowed to be back in the lineup Friday. … Marlins OF Justin Ruggiano went 0-for-4 to snap his career-best 10-game hitting streak. … The Marlins will not have a representative in the All-Star Game, as OF Giancarlo Stanton had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. … Cardinals C Yadier Molina missed the game in order to attend the funeral of his wife's grandfather in Puerto Rico.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Miami |
|
St. Louis |
|
Anibal Sanchez
|
Player |
Joe Kelly
|
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
6.0 |
IP |
6.0 |
|
3 |
Strikeouts |
5 |
|
5 |
Hits |
2 |
|
3.00 |
ERA |
0.00 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Miami
|
6 |
1 |
10 |
.207 |
14 |
8 |
3 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
| St. Louis
|
8 |
0 |
11 |
.242 |
10 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
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