Monday’s Game Report: Marlins 5, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
After scoring 34 runs in their five-game winning streak, the Cardinals were unable to get their offense untracked on Monday night and saw the streak come to an end against the Marlins in Miami.
The Cardinals were held to just five hits, four singles and a ninth-inning triple by Masyn Winn, the team’s first triple of the season. Two of their runs scored on sacrifice flies and the other came home on a wild pitch. The team was hitless in six at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
Jordan Walker scored two of the three runs, but the Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season when scoring first, in nine games, when the Marlins broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the sixth and added another run in the eighth.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Walker’s single in the fourth was the first hit for the Cardinals and extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the second longest of his career. He had a 17-game streak in 2023. He stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Winn’s sacrifice fly … In the sixth, Walker drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on Winn’s single and scored on a wild pitch … After Winn’s ninth-inning triple, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Ramon Urias … JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera, the first two batters of the game, were both hit by pitches but were stranded on the bases … Wetherholt has now been hit by a pitch in the last five games, a franchise record … Every batter except Herrera struck out at least once as the Cardinals fanned 13 times in the game.
On the mound: Michael McGreevy retired the first 10 batters he faced but gave up a run in the fourth and fifth before the two-run sixth put the Marlins ahead. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out three … Matt Svanson pitched around two walks in the seventh but Ryan Fernandez walked the first two batters he faced in the eighth before giving up the final Miami run.
Key stat: The four combined walks by Svanson and Fernandez increased the number of walks by Cardinals relievers this season to 52 in 87 1/3 innings. The two walks by McGreevy left the team’s starters with 38 walks in 112 2/3 innings.
Worth noting: During Walker’s 15-game hitting streak he is 21-of-62, a .339 average, with seven homers and 13 RBIs. He has struck out 23 times … The anticipated return of former Cardinal Brendan Donovan to Busch Stadium this weekend won’t happen because the Mariners placed Donovan on the 10-day injured list on Monday because of a groin strain.
Up next: Dustin May will get the start on Tuesday night in game two of the three-game series in Miami.
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