By MATT PIKE
Miami Marlins starter Janson Junk and five relievers combined on a three-hitter to help lead the Marlins past the St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three game series 4-1 at loanDepot Park.
Junk allowed one hit, walked one and struck out two over five innings. He was lifted after 56 pitches. Andrew Nardi followed Junk and pitched the sixth and Anthony Bender got three outs in the seventh. Michael Petersen struck out the side in a perfect eighth.
Miami led through the game, scoring the first runs as Owen Caissie hit an RBI single, driving in Agustín Ramírez, and Jakob Marsee walked with the bases loaded to score Heriberto Hernández against St. Louis starter Kyle Leahy in the second to give Miami a 2-0 advantage. Singles from Marsee in the fourth, bringing home Leo Jiménez, and Ramírez, scoring Otto Lopez, in the fifth padded the lead.
Ivan Herrera homered against Lake Bachar to lead off the ninth for the Cardinals’ lone run. Bachar then walked Nolan Gorman and retired José Fermin on a flyout. Pete Fairbanks relieved Bachar and got the last two outs for his fifth save of the season. Leahy took the loss, falling to 2-3 on the season, completing five innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. He walked three, struck out two and hit a batter.
The Cardinals rested regulars Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson in the game. Of the three hits on the day, leading the way at the plate was Gorman, who was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Herrera was 1-for-4 with the home run and an RBI. Nathan Church was also 1-for-3 but struck out twice.
After an off day on Thursday, Andre Pallante (2-1, 4.05 ERA, 12K's) will start the opener of a three-game series back at Busch Stadium against the Seattle Mariners and George Kirby (1-2, 3.29 ERA, 27K's). First pitch will be at 7:15pm on Friday, pregame will begin near the start at 7:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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