St. Louis hands Miami sixth consecutive defeat

The Miami offense was held in check yet again Tuesday night at Marlins Park, as the Cardinals flew past the Marlins again, 7-1.

Starting in place of lefty Caleb Smith, Elieser Hernandez turned in an impressive outing. The righty tossed 5 ²⁄₃ innings, recording seven strikeouts on 96 pitches.

But right-hander Dakota Hudson had plenty of his own success, allowing one run in six innings of work.

St. Louis grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second, thanks to an RBI triple at the hands of Harrison Bader.

Miami evened the contest at 1-1 in the home half of the fourth, after Rojas’ 18th RBI scored Ramirez. The Marlins connected on five hits Tuesday night: Rojas, Garrett Cooper, Harold Ramirez, Brian Anderson and Austin Dean, who came in as a pinch hitter. However, none of them went for extra bases.

The Cardinals jumped back in the lead in the sixth under bizarre circumstances. Rojas robbed Yadier Molina of a hit with men on the corners and one down, but committed an error on a throw to first base, scoring Paul Goldschmidt.

Miami’s bullpen issued three consecutive walks from there. Jeff Brigham walked Bader on four pitches, extending St. Louis’ lead to 3-1.

In the eighth, lefty Adam Conley, who has struggled with pitch location for a majority of the season, was smacked around. The first three batters reached base, including an RBI single from Dexter Fowler. José Martínez—coming in as a pinch hitter—drove home two runners to cap off a three-run eighth.

In the ninth, former Marlin Marcell Ozuna laced an opposite-field blast. Conley pitched two innings and coughed up four runs on seven hits.

Ozuna has dominated this series thus far, reaching base safely five times in nine plate appearances.

The Marlins, still seeking a win on their current nine-game homestand, now turn to RHP Jordan Yamamoto Wednesday night. He’s been recalled from Double-A Jacksonville and will be making his major league debut.

The Marlins, in a corresponding move, put RHP José Ureña on the 10-day injured list due to lower back tightness. St. Louis will throw out Miles Mikolas, who is 4-6 on the year. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.

Cardinals vs. Marlins box score (Baseball Theater)

Fish Picks answer key

1. Cardinals
2. Over
3. Under
4. No
5. Cardinals