Mike Stanton’s two-run homer helps Florida Marlins defeat St. Louis Cardinals 8-7 – MLB Update
Mike Stanton struck a tiebreaking two-run homer to guide the Florida Marlins to an 8-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, St. Louis on Wednesday, May 4.
Florida could not have wished for something greater. One night after losing to St. Louis Cardinals the Marlins made a good come-back and took a decisive win.
The timely two-run hit earned Stanton his fifth homer of the season. However, this particular homer came at a crucial time when the game was facing tie. Add to it the fact that Stanton had difficulty playing the Cardinals’ pitcher Eduardo Sanchez in the
last game.
The Marlins offence remains a worrying factor for the whole team. Javier Vazquez was struggling once again on Wednesday as he gave up six runs in six innings.
The Cardinals team manager, on the other hand, knew where the mistakes lay in their team’s performance. "We created some rough moments for ourselves, no doubt about it," manager Tony La Russa said. "If you watched the game closely, we had a couple really
tough breaks go against us."
When Chris Carpenter came out to pitch for the Cardinals, he was quickly charged by Florida’s hitters. Hanley Ramirez laid a solid foundation with a single to centre, as Gaby Sanchez scored the second run by grounding into fielder’s choice. However, St.
Louis did not let Florida’s lead pile up and levelled the score with Lance Berkman’s two-run homer.
Florida’s hitters came out even stronger in the third inning with four runs out of seemingly ineffective and easily playable fastballs of Chris Carpenter. Sanchez and Omar Infante scored a single each while Stanton stunned the crowd with his two-run homer,
making it a 6-2 lead for the Marlins.
Javier Vazquez gave up two runs in the next inning. It was Matt Holliday and Berkman who scored singles to make it 6-4 for the Cardinals. St. Louis came back hard in the sixth inning by two more runs as the score was 6-all with Daniel Descalso and Ryan Theriot’s
singles on Vazquez’s fastballs.
It was here that Stanton stepped in and hit a two-run homer to not only reverse the break but also take an 8-6 lead. Leo Nunez, who came out to pitch for Florida in the last inning, did not allow any Cardinals’ hitter to capitalise on his fastball and allowed
only one run to pave the way for the 8-7 victory for the Marlins.
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