Friday’s Game Report: Marlins 4, Cardinals 0

By Rob Rains

Even before it began to rain in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on Friday night, the Marlins had already cooled off the Cardinals.

Max Meyer allowed only a pair of infield hits, one a bunt single, through the first seven innings and the Marlins broke up a scoreless game with two runs in the eighth en route to winning the first game of their three-game series.

The Marlins used a single and an RBI double by Graham Pauley to score the first run of the game before a 27-minute rain delay interrupted play. Miami increased the lead to 2-0 after the inning resumed, then added two insurance runs in the ninth.

It was the third loss in a row for the Cardinals.

Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:

At the plate: Jordan Walker beat out an infield hit leading off the second, but then was thrown out trying to steal second … A bunt single by Lars Nootbaar in the fifth was the only other hit for the Cardinals until Jose Fermin doubled with one out in the eighth, after Meyer came out of the game … The Cardinals loaded the bases without a hit with one out in the seventh, on a hit batter (Ivan Herrera, for the 22^nd time this season) and two walks, but Masyn Winn hit into a forceout at the plate and Nathan Church flew out to end the inning … It was the fifth shutout loss of the season for the Cardinals.

On the mound: Michael McGreevy matched zeros with Meyer through six innings, scattering five hits, stranding two runners in scoring position … The Miami rally in the eighth came against George Soriano … In the ninth, they took advantage of back-to-back walks issued by Max Rajcic before he gave up a two-run single to Jakob Marsee.

Key stat: In the first four games of this homestand, the Cardinals have scored a combined five runs through the first eight innings, in a total of 32 innings. They have had one two-run inning. They have scored five runs in their three ninth innings.

Worth noting: The Angels announced on Friday that former Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak will serve as their interim general manager after they fired their GM … The Cardinals have only hit one home run in their last seven games at Busch … The Marlins stole two bases off Herrera, who has now allowed 46 consecutive stolen bases since he last threw out a basestealer on Sept. 1, 2024.

Up next: The series will continue with a 6:15 p.m. game on Saturday night. Andre Pallante is the scheduled starter.

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