By MATT PIKE
Former Cardinal Sandy Alcantara took the mound at Busch Stadium on Tuesday evening and shut down his former team, as the St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Miami Marlins in a 5-0 shutout evening up the series heading into a rubber match in Wednesday evening's finale.
Graham Pauley put the Marlins up in the second inning with a two run home run, driving in Troy Johnston after his one out single. In the fifth inning, Miami extended their lead on an RBI single by Otto Lopez that scored Kyle Stowers. The final runs came in the sixth inning for the Marlins with Eric Wagamn doubling to bring home Dane Myers, before later scoring on a triple by Xavier Edwards.
Sonny Gray took the loss, falling to 10-5 on the season, pitching five innings and giving up three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and a walk. At the plate, the Cardinals had just four hits in the loss. Jordan Walker was 1-for-3 with a walk. Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Pedro Pagés also had hits.
St. Louis and Miami wrap up their series tomorrow night. Miles Mikolas (6-7, 4.94 ERA) takes the mound against Cal Quantrill (3-8, 5.05 ERA) for the Marlins. First pitch is again at 6:45pm with coverage being joined around 6:35 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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