The Sports Xchange
Jul 6, 2017
ST. LOUIS -- Rookie Luke Voit drove in three runs Thursday as the St. Louis Cardinals salvaged a split of their four-game series with the Miami Marlins, winning 4-3 at Busch Stadium.
Voit belted a 446-foot homer to the third deck in left field in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 1. In his next at-bat an inning later, he laced a two-run double off the right field wall to put St. Louis (41-44) ahead to stay at 3-2.
Randal Grichuk added the Cardinals' final run with a 423-foot solo homer to left-center field in the sixth, his eighth of the year.
Michael Wacha (6-3) earned his third straight win, tying a season high by fanning nine over 5 2/3 innings. Wacha allowed six hits and two runs, walking two.
Marcell Ozuna drove in all three runs for Miami (38-46) with RBI singles in the first, third and seventh. Ichiro Suzuki collected a pair of hits, giving him 3,054 in his major league career and allowing him to pass Rod Carew for the most hits by a foreign-born player.
Tom Koehler (1-4) absorbed the loss after permitting four hits and three runs in five innings, walking three and striking out seven.
Seung-Hwan Oh pitched around a leadoff single by J.T. Realmuto in the ninth for his 17th save in 20 chances. After issuing an intentional walk to Justin Bour, who homered off him Wednesday night, Oh fanned Martin Prado to end it.
The Marlins left 12 men on base, blowing a glorious opportunity in the eighth after Suzuki and J.T. Riddle singled to start the inning. But pinch hitter A.J. Ellis bunted into a 5-6-4 double play and Dee Gordon slapped a comebacker to Brett Cecil that left Riddle at second.
Gordon went 2-for-4 with two steals for Miami, and scored all three of the Marlins' runs.
NOTES: St. Louis 3B Jedd Gyorko (left groin strain) was back in the lineup Thursday after not starting the previous two games. He appeared in Wednesday night's game as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning, lofting a sacrifice fly to center. ... Miami gave RF Giancarlo Stanton a day off Thursday after he belted a pair of homers in Wednesday night's 9-6 win. Ichiro Suzuki got a start in right field for the Marlins, batting seventh. ... Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong (right triceps strain) started a rehab assignment Wednesday night at Double-A Springfield, going 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Wong will play at least four more games there and could be back with St. Louis after the All-Star break.