Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Marlins 0
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals desperately needed a well-pitched game from their starter. They needed a big hit. They needed their closer to bounce back from one of the worst moments of his career.
They got just what they needed Thursday night from Jack Flaherty, Nolan Arenado and Jordan Hicks in stopping their three-game losing streak against the Marlins in Miami.
Flaherty worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings, Nolan Arenado broke up the 0-0 game with a home run in the sixth inning and Jordan Hicks, after literally throwing the game away on Wednesday night, needed just eight pitches to close out the game in the ninth inning.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Arenado’s 17th homer of the year came with two outs in the sixth after the Cardinals had been held to just two hits through the first five innings by 20-year-old Eury Perez … They added a run each in the seventh and eighth to pad their lead to 3-0. In the seventh Nolan Gorman led off with a double and later scored on an infield single by Alec Burleson … In the eighth, it was Lars Nootbaar who doubled, this time with one out, and he scored on a bloop double by Gorman … Burleson and Gorman each had two hits, accounting for four of the Cardinals’ seven hits … Brendan Donovan was 0-of-5, snapping his 20-game on-base streak.
On the mound: Flaherty was able to pitch around nine hits and two walks, stranding 10 runners. The Marlins loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh on two singles and a walk to knock him out of the game, but Chris Stratton stranded all three runners with a fielder’s choice ground out … Gioanny Gallegos worked a 1-2-3 eighth before turning the ball over to Hicks, who earned the save with a ground out, strikeout and fly out.
Worth noting: The last 20-year-old pitcher to start a game against the Cardinals also was a Marlin, Jose Fernandez, who started two games against them in 2013 … The Cardinals made another roster move before the game, optioning Matthew Liberatore to Memphis and purchasing the contract of Kyle Leahy. Liberatore failed to get out of the first inning in his start on Wednesday night … Tommy Edman was held out of the starting lineup for the second night in a row because of a sore right wrist, but an MRI came back clean … Paul Goldschmidt also had the night off.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will be in Chicago on Friday night for the first of three games against the White Sox that will ead into the All-Star break. Jordan Montgomery will get the start in the 7:10 p.m. game.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
Here is Oli Marmol’s postgame interview:
