Five-run seventh lifts Cardinals to home opening win over Marlins
By Rob Rains
It’s only been a week, but Cardinals’ manager Oli Marmol already has identified a characteristic about his team which he thinks is going to be a key to their success this season.
“If I can narrow it down to one thing, this club is going to fight,” Marmol said. “I think we’ve shown that in this short period of time.”
He saw it again in the seventh inning of the home opener on Thursday at Busch Stadium.
Trailing by two runs, the Cardinals took advantage of an error to spark a five-run inning that wiped out the 5-3 lead and sent them to an 8-5 win over the Marlins, who dropped to 0-8 to start the season.
An RBI single by Ivan Herrera, who had hit his first career homer in the second, was followed by a two-run double by Nolan Gorman that gave the Cardinals the lead. Alec Burleson added an RBI single before Masyn Winn capped the inning with a triple that drove in Burleson.
It had been a tough opening week for Gorman, who came into the game with just a .192 average with five hits in 26 at-bats, only two RBIs, and 12 strikeouts.
He struck out two more times on Thursday before hitting the first pitch he saw from lefthander Andrew Nardi into the seventh into the right-field corner.
“That was nice,” Gorman said. “I took my chance and was lucky enough to put it in a good place.
“We played a really good team to start the year (the Dodgers) and it’s hard to judge yourself on where you are when it comes to that. Just kind of trust in what you did all off-season, go back to the basics and look for good pitches to hit.”
Here is how Thursday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had been held to just four hits through the first six innings, scoring on Herrera’s homer and an RBI double by Nolan Arenado, the first of his three hits … Victor Scott II moved into the leadoff spot because of Brendan Donovan’s absence but he went hitless in five at-bats, dropping him to 3-of-30 for the season … Between Contreras and Herrera, the Cardinals catchers have hit three home runs, more than the total for the rest of the team combined (two, from Paul Goldschmidt and Donovan).
On the mound: Lance Lynn made his first career start in the home opener for the Cardinals and pitched into the fifth, giving up three home runs, two to St. Louis native Jake Burger, who was playing at Busch for the first time in his career. Lynn left with the Cardinals trailing 4-1 and the Marlins added another run off Matthew Liberatore before Giovanny Gallegos, Andre Pallante, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley combined to close out the win … Gallegos got the win despite facing only one batter, throwing five pitches.
Key stat: The Marlins three homers increased the total allowed by the Cardinals in the first eight games to 15, tied with the Blue Jays for the most in the majors.
Worth noting: Matt Carpenter became the eighth Cardinal on the injured list before Thursday’s game because of a right oblique strain. With Contreras’ status questionable after getting hit by a pitch on Wednesday, Pedro Pages was recalled from Memphis … Lars Nootbaar remained in Indianapolis on Thursday and was set to play a second rehab game for the Redbirds. He could be activated from the IL as early as Saturday … Coming off a simulated game against Double A Springfield hitters on Wednesday, Sonny Gray said he believes his next appearance can be for the Cardinals but the team has not made a decision about that outing … Herrera was one of five players in the starting lineup age 23 or younger. Including Michael Siani, who started in left, the Cardinals had six players age 24 or younger in their lineup … The last opposing player to hit two home runs in the Cardinals home opener was Bobby Bonilla of the Mets in 1992.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will get their first day off of the season on Friday before continuing the series against the Marlins with day games on Saturday and Sunday. Steven Matz and Kyle Gibson are the scheduled starters.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
