Graham Pauley made his first home run in a Marlins uniform count, and Sandy Alcantara’s steady outing anchored a strong pitching effort as the Miami Marlins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 on Tuesday night at loanDepot park.
Alcantara (6-9) tossed five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits while walking three, striking out four, and hitting two batters. The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, getting Alec Burleson to strike out swinging and preserving Miami’s 3-0 lead.
The Marlins’ bullpen kept the Cardinals quiet the rest of the way. Calvin Faucher, Ronny Henriquez, and Valente Bellozo combined to throw four shutout innings, striking out six and allowing just one hit.
The night began with a milestone moment. Troy Johnston, a 28-year-old who finally made his MLB debut after 636 minor league games and 2,384 at-bats, singled in his first big-league plate appearance off Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (10-5). Moments later, Pauley launched a two-run homer to right field in the second inning to put the Marlins ahead 2-0.
In the fifth, Kyle Stowers doubled with two outs, and Otto Lopez snapped a streak of 13 consecutive Marlins at-bats without a hit by lining an RBI single to center to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Marlins added insurance in the sixth. Dane Myers singled, Eric Wagaman doubled him home, and Xavier Edwards followed with a run-scoring triple to deep right-center to make it 5-0.
St. Louis threatened briefly in the fifth when Pedro Pagés singled and Victor Scott II walked. After Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch, Alcantara struck out Burleson to end the inning. It proved to be the Cardinals’ best chance all night.
Scott had two stolen bases in the loss, giving him 29 on the season and tying him with Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs for second in the National League. Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz leads MLB with 34 steals.
Cardinals reliever John King exited the game in the ninth inning after retiring Xavier Edwards and Jesús Sánchez, leaving with what appeared to be an injury.
The Cardinals (now shut out for the 10th time this season) finished with just four hits and struck out 10 times on the night.
Up next: The Marlins hand the ball to Cal Quantrill (3-8, 4.95 ERA) for the series finale on Wednesday against St. Louis right-hander Miles Mikolas (6-7, 4.94).
