MLB Scores: Cardinals, 11, Marlins, 6

The Miami Marlins have had issues with their pitching all season long, and on Friday night at Marlins Park, Miami’s pitching failed to contribute yet again. The Marlins lost in a slugfest as the Cardinals won 11-6, which gives the Cardinals a one game lead for the second NL Wild Card. Jose Urena was on the mound tonight, and given his performance, and the recent acquisitions of Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea, Ureña might be on his way to another stint in Triple-A New Orleans.

Ureña only pitched 4.1 innings, and he allowed eight runs, before being replaced by Mike Dunn. The Cardinals got on the board in the second inning, and Jeremy Hazelbaker got revenge on Urena. Hazelbaker, who fought with Ureña in a Triple-A game a few weeks ago, homered to right, which scored Yadier Molina, and the Cardinals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. With the home run, St. Louis has now homered in 19 of their last 20 games.

Kolten Wong would double to left, which brought Tommy Pham home, and the Cardinals continued to shove the Marlins in a hole, as they held the early 3-0 advantage. The Marlins would cut into the deficit in the next half inning, when All-Star Marcell Ozuna homered to left, which cut the Cardinals lead to 3-1. In the top of the fifth inning, the Cardinals went full beast-mode on the Marlins. After Molina’s RBI double, and Pham’s RBI single, Don Mattingly had enough of Ureña, and he chose Mike Dunn to be the pitcher to stop the bleeding.

Dunn didn’t seem to help, as the Cardinals tacked on four more runs before the Marlins finally got out of the inning, but they were all of a sudden down 9-1. In response to the Cardinals outbreak, the Marlins went on a little scoring run themselves. Miguel Rojas and Chris Johnson both drove in runs on RBI doubles, and shortly after, Martin Prado continued to hit like a madman. Prado homered to left, which scored Johnson and Dee Gordon, and the Marlins were now only down 9-6.

The Cardinals put a dent in the Marlins comeback, after Pham homered to center, which scored Hazelbaker, and the Cardinals took the decisive 11-6 lead. That was all the Cardinals would need, as they took game two of this series by a score of 11-6. Mike Leake was on the mound for St. Louis. He allowed six runs, and he struck out three batters in five innings pitched.

Ichiro entered tonight with 2,298 hits. He was in the lineup with a prime chance to enter the elusive 3,000 hit club; Unfortunately, he was unable to do that as he went 0-4 with a strikeout. Prado went 2-4 with three RBI’s and one run scored. Yadier Molina went 3-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. The Cardinals outhit the Marlins, 14-9. Colin Rea will make his Marlins debut tomorrow, as the Marlins try to win their first game of the series.

Source: FanGraphs

Hero of the Game: Kolten Wong (0.19)

Goat of the Game: Jose Urena (-0.32)

Play of the Game: Jeremy Hazelbaker homers to right, Yadier Molina scores