Cardinals vs. Marlins: Game 89 Thread

Things are getting pretty. After last night's gutsy win over the St. Louis Cardinals to open the second half of the season, the Miami Marlins are now 48-41, seven games over .500 for the first time since June 2nd, 2011. The Marlins are also two games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild card race (tied with the New York Mets for second place), and tonight they will look to Tom Koehler (6-7) to help create even more distance between them.

Koehler has not defeated the Cardinals, and in his one and only start at Busch Stadium, a loss during last season, he allowed two runs and five hits thru seven innings. In his last start before the All-Star break, he pitched four innings and surrendered three earned runs and seven hits for a no-decision. His last win was June 19th, when he lasted six innings and gave up only two hits and struck out six in a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright (8-5) has won three of his last four starts, including a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 7th in which he went seven innings while allowing one earned run on five hits and fanning nine. Wainwright is more familiar with the Marlins than Koehler is with the Cardinals. He's made nine career appearances against the Fish, and has an overall 2.33 ERA thru 54 innings. But he hasn't faced them since 2010, a win during which he gave up two earned runs on six hits and struck out eight.

Pitching Matchup

Notes:

-Ichiro isn't starting, but he's now only nine hits shy of 3,000.

-Stanton's .865 slugging percentage leads the Majors for the month of July.

Bold Prediction: Marlins keep it going, win 4-2.