Tyler Saggese’s big night at the plate and Iván Herrera’s timely hitting powered the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night at loanDepot park.
Saggese went 3 for 4 and scored twice, while Herrera drove in the Cardinals’ first three runs to set the tone for the offense. St. Louis collected 12 hits from seven different players, handing Miami starter Edward Cabrera (6-7) a rough outing in which he allowed a career-high 11 hits across 4 1/3 innings. Cabrera struck out six but couldn’t avoid trouble as the Cardinals steadily built their lead.
Herrera’s RBI accounted for the early damage, putting St. Louis ahead 3-0. In the fourth, Pedro Pagés extended his season-high hitting streak to nine games with an RBI single, giving the Cardinals a 4-0 cushion.
The Marlins finally broke through in the bottom half of the inning when Xavier Edwards — who entered the night leading the National League in batting average at .302 — legged out an infield single for Miami’s first hit. Edwards scored on a triple by Jakob Marsee, who then came home on a throwing error by Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
McGreevy (5-2) settled in and pitched six innings, giving up six hits with five strikeouts. His biggest moment came in the sixth, when Miami put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. McGreevy responded by striking out Eric Wagaman to preserve the lead.
St. Louis padded its advantage in the fifth when Saggese and Masyn Winn each scored, stretching the lead to 6-2. Miami stayed close behind an RBI double from Otto Lopez, but Saggese later added a sacrifice fly in the seventh that brought home Winn to make it 7-4.
Riley O’Brien closed it out in the ninth for his second save of the season, working around two walks with two strikeouts.
McGreevy’s sixth-inning strikeout of Wagaman stranded the tying run at second base and kept the Cardinals in control.
The Cardinals racked up 12 hits, their highest total in over a week, with seven different players recording at least one.
The Cardinals and Marlins wrap up their three-game set Wednesday night. St. Louis will send Andre Pallante (6-10, 5.04 ERA) to the mound against Miami ace Sandy Alcantara (6-11, 6.31 ERA).
