Sanchez's Grand Slam Helps Marlins Win 6-5
ST. LOUIS (CBSMiami.com) – The Florida Marlins continue to look like the hottest team in baseball Monday night after Mike Stanton tripled and scored the go ahead run in the eighth inning to bring the Marlins a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse had a 22-inning scoreless streak going into the game, but that ended when Gaby Sanchez crushed his first grand slam. But it wasn't just hitting that sparked the victory.
Edward Mujica (3-1) allowed a walk in two scoreless innings and Leo Nunez finished for his 10th save in 10 tries after the Cardinals put two men on in the ninth.
With the win, the Marlins improved to 18-9 -- the franchise's best start -- and are tied with the Phillies for the NL East lead.
Stanton hit his second career triple on a hooking liner that glanced off center fielder Colby Rasmus' glove leading off the eighth against Mitchell Boggs (0-2) and scored easily on Gregg Dobbs' sacrifice fly. Lacking a double for the cycle, Stanton struck out against Miguel Batista with two men on to end the ninth.
The Marlins' previous 14 runs the last two games were all scored off homers.
Lohse allowed three earned runs in 31 1-3 innings in winning his previous four starts, and the streak was the majors' longest this season. He needed only 17 pitches to sail through two innings and led 2-0 off RBI singles from Berkman and Yadier Molina in the first before running into trouble on a rally begun on pitcher Chris Volstad's one-out single.
Hanley Ramirez walked with two outs to load the bases for Sanchez, who belted a 2-2 delivery an estimated 422 feet off the back of the wall in the visitor's bullpen in left for his fourth homer.
The Cardinals regained the lead on Berkman's three-run homer in the bottom of the third, his ninth overall and first at home. Berkman is batting .450 at home with two homers and seven RBIs, and .375 with eight homers and 20 RBIs on the road.
Stanton homered for the second straight game, re-tying it in the fifth with a liner just inside the left-field foul pole on an 0-2 pitch.
Volstad struck out none for the first time since Aug. 28, 2009, a span of 37 starts. He totaled 14 strikeouts his first four outings this year.
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