MIAMI — The Miami Marlins’ offense stayed hot one day after recording a season-high for runs scored.
This time, though, the offensive production was needed.
Right down to the final batter.
In a game that featured suspect pitching on both sides, the Marlins prevailed with a 10-9, walk-off win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday at loanDepot park.
The Marlins scored their two runs when Jordan Hicks airmailed a Joey Wendle groundball tapped in front of home plate. Garrett Hampson, pinch-running for Bryan De La Cruz, and Yuli Gurriel scored.
Miami (51-37) has won each of its first three games of the four-game set against St. Louis (35-51) and will go for the sweep on Thursday, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m.
The win is Miami’s 21st one-run win of the season, although this one wasn’t like their other close affairs. It was the most runs the Marlins needed to score this season to win a game decided by one run.
Miami, which finished with 11 hits, saw a five-run lead disappear in the third, a one-run lead fade away in the fourth and another lead get erased with two outs in the ninth when Jordan Walker hit a go-ahead two-run home run off reliever A.J. Puk.
De La Cruz went 3 for 4 with two RBI and three runs scored. Garrett Cooper went 2 for 3 with a walk, three RBI and a run scored. Jorge Soler scored three times.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
A bad third inning made offensive outburst necessary
The Marlins once again jumped out to an early lead against the Cardinals, scoring five runs on six hits and four walks in the first two innings. They chased St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore after he logged just one out.
But the Cardinals eliminated their deficit in the span of six batters in the third inning against Marlins starter Bryan Hoeing.
St. Louis had runners on first and second with one out before Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras hit back-to-back doubles to cut Miami’s deficit to 5-3. And then Nolan Gorman tied the game by taking a middle-middle sinker 407 feet to center for a game-tying two-run home run.
5-0 became 5-5.
Hoeing only made it through three innings, forcing manager Skip Schumaker to dig deep into his bullpen the rest of the game.
George Soriano gave up a run in the fourth inning. JT Chargois and Steven Okert then pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings, respectively, before Miami scored its two sixth-inning runs. Huascar Brazoban held St. Louis to just one run in the seventh after giving up back-to-back hits to begin the inning. Tanner Scott worked around runners on the corners with one out in the eighth by striking out Paul Goldschmidt and Lars Nootbaar.
But then Puk came within one strike of sealing his 15th save of the year, Walker took him deep for the two-run home run to force the Marlins’ offense to come up big one more time.
And the offense, as it had all game, stepped up at the end.
Dane Myers continues to make a good early impression
After logging two hits in his MLB debut on Tuesday after entering as a defensive replacement for Jonathan Davis, Dane Myers made his first MLB start on Wednesday playing center field and batting seventh.
He went 2 for 4 with an RBI and made a catch at the wall in left-center field to rob Nolan Arenado of an extra-base hit and end the fourth inning.
Myers is just the second player in Marlins history to have multiple hits in each of his first two career MLB games. Ryan Jackson, in 1998, is the other.
Jacob Stallings’ first home run
Among the big hits for the Marlins on Wednesday: Jacob Stallings’ leadoff home run in the third inning.
Stallings swung at the first pitch he saw from Daniel Hudson, an inside 90.5 mph sinker, and sent it 388 feet to left field.
It was not only Stallings’ first home run overall this season, but it was also his first career home run at loanDepot park.
