Saturday’s Game Report: Marlins 5, Cardinals 1

By Rob Rains

Scoring runs has been a tough challenge for the Cardinals as of late, and that was the case again on Saturday night.

After getting shut out by the Marlins on Friday night, the Cardinals managed only one run on Saturday night in dropping the second game of the series.

The loss also was the fourth in a row for the Cardinals, who have scored a combined three runs in the first eight innings of those four games.

The Cardinals had seven hits, but they all were singles, as their power outage at home also continued. They have hit only one home run in their last eight games at Busch Stadium in a combined total of 246 at-bats.

The loss was the seventh in their last nine games and they are now only four games above .500 for the season.

Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:

At the plate: The Cardinals’ lone run scored in the sixth, by which point they were losing 4-0. Jordan Walker walked with one out, went to second on a single by Lars Nootbaar and scored on a single by Masyn Winn. The inning ended when Jose Fermin grounded into a double play … JJ Wetherholt and Nootbaar each had two hits … The Cardinals had only three at-bats with a runner in scoring position, two of them coming in that sixth inning … Their other scoring chance came when they loaded the bases with two outs in the third on singles by Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera and a hit batter (Alec Burleson) but Walker struck out to end the inning.

On the mound: Andre Pallante allowed 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings, producing the first four Miami runs. The fifth run also was charged to Pallante after Matt Svanson let the inherited runner score in the seventh … The five runs were the most Pallante has allowed since he also allowed five on May 6 against Milwaukee, a span of eight starts.

Key stat: The loss left the Cardinals with a 22-21 record at Busch Stadium this season and in those 43 games they have been outscored by 28 runs (allowing 191 runs, scoring 163 runs).

Worth noting: Quinn Mathews carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning for Memphis on Saturday night at Jacksonville, losing his bid on a home run. That was the only hit he allowed in 5 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out seven.

Up next: The Cardinals will send Kyle Leahy to the mound on Sunday to try to avoid being swept in the series by the Marlins.

Follow Rob Rains on X @RobRains