Cardinals Show Off Power, but Can’t Save Win vs. Marlins

Cardinals’ short stop Jhonny Peralta is starting to find his power game. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals’ three-game winning streak was broken on Saturday, as the Miami Marlins came from behind to take a 6-5 win.

The Cards had the chance to win the game, and with it take the series, but closer Trevor Rosenthal gave up the lead in the ninth inning with a runner on first and two outs.

Rosenthal gave up a single to right after a long 11-pitch battle with Miami third baseman Casey McGehee. Donovan Solano scored on that hit, coming all the way from first; but he nearly escaped being thrown out. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the normally excellent Yadier Molina, dropped the relay throw at the plate.

“I was coming in to argue that he had him, and Yadi at that point let me know that he dropped it,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said, according to Alex Halsted of MLB.com. “That was a tough hop.”

Matheny went to the pen and called in lefty reliever Sam Freeman to replace the Rosenthal, but Freeman gave up the go-ahead run to Miami’s Jeff Baker who hit the single to left that scored McGehee. The runner had advanced to second on the throw home that tried to prevent the tying run, so McGehee was in scoring position.

Short stop Jhonny Peralta did hit a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cardinals hope, but Molina grounded into a double-play two pitches later; effectively ending the Cardinals hopes of winning the second game of the series.

While St. Louis did see its winning streak snapped, it is well worth noting that the Red Birds may be finally starting to regain the offensive spark that has been missing as of late.

Fans at Busch stadium saw three home runs on Saturday, two coming off Cardinals’ bats.

First baseman Allen Craig, back in the lineup, hit a 398 foot bomb of Miami’s Andrew Heaney in the fourth inning. Two pitches later, Peralta hit a four-seam fastball out of the park into left field. The Cardinals’ short stop currently leads the team in home runs with 13, and he’s now hit two home runs in the past three games.

If St. Louis wants to win this series and continue to stay in striking distance of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, who are currently up five games, the Cardinals will have to start hitting for more power, thus manufacturing more runs.

St. Louis is currently last in the National League in home runs, with only 51 hit this season. In comparison, the Colorado Rockies are first in the NL  with 102, and the Toronto Blue Jays lead MLB with 113.