MIAMI — The Miami Marlins made quick work of the St. Louis Cardinals in an 15-2 rout on Tuesday at loanDepot park.
Miami improves to 50-37 on the season. The Cardinals fall to 35-50.
The Marlins blasted two home runs and had seven total extra-base hit among their season-high-tying 19 hits. The 15 runs scored are a season-high, topping their 12-run output on June 3 against the Oakland Athletics.
Miami had at least eight batters step up to the plate in four of eight innings.
Meanwhile, the pitching staff held St. Louis to just five hits while logging 10 strikeouts over the first eight innings before Jacob Stallings (yes, the catcher) allowed two runs while pitching the ninth..
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Jesus Sanchez, Garrett Cooper provide the fireworks
The bulk of the Marlins’ run production on Tuesday came from Jesus Sanchez and Garrett Cooper.
Sanchez opened scoring with a 418-foot three-run home run in the first inning after Luis Arraez led off the inning with a single and Jorge Soler followed with a double. Sanchez tied a season-high with three hits, adding singles in the sixth and seventh innings.
Cooper then followed with a solo home run of his own in the fourth and a two-run single in the fourth as part of a three-hit, three-RBI outing.
But the Marlins’ offense extended beyond just those two. Miami tallied 14 hits in the rout. Soler had three hits, including a pair of doubles, two RBI and scored three runs. Jean Segura had two hits and two walks. Arraez added two walks to his leadoff single. Joey Wendle hit two doubles, as well.
Jesus Luzardo holds the Cardinals’ bats silent
Left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo tossed six shutout innings on Tuesday, holding the Cardinals to five hits, two walks and a hit by pitch while striking out eight on 93 pitches.
The Cardinals never got a runner past second base against Luzardo, who erased two of the eight baserunners against him with a second-inning pickoff of Willson Contreras and a Jordan Walker groundball double play in the sixth. Five of his eight strikeouts came on the slider, with the other three via his four-seam fastball.
Over his last three starts, Luzardo has thrown 19 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out 26 while issuing just 10 hits and four walks. His season ERA has dropped from 4.09 to 3.32 as a result.
Steven Okert and Jeff Lindgren pitched a pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen t before Miami had Stallings pitch the ninth.
A lot of injury-related news
— Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s MRI on Monday revealed only a minor strain in his left oblique. There was no grade attached to the diagnosis, meaning the severity is minimal.
There is still no timetable on Chisholm’s return, but he is clear to start rehabbing and will be monitored. At the minimum, Chisholm is out through at least the All-Star Break. The earliest he would be able to return to the active roster is July 14 when the Marlins resume play against the Baltimore Orioles.
The oblique injury occurred during the follow through of Chisholm’s strikeout swing in the sixth inning of Miami’s 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. Chisholm said afterward he felt his side cramp up, which prompted his exit.
The injury came one week after Chisholm was activated off the injured list following a six-week stint being sidelined for turf toe.
— Jonathan Davis, who has been the Marlins’ primary center fielder in Chisholm’s absence, was taken out of the game on a cart in the fifth inning with a right knee contusion he sustained diving for a Tommy Edman line drive to right-center field. Davis will undergo further testing, including an X-ray, to determine the severity of the injury.
Dane Myers replaced Davis in center field, making his MLB debut in the process. Myers went 2 for 3 at the plate, with his first MLB hit being an RBI single to right field as part of a four-run seventh inning. His second hit, an eighth-inning single, was part of a four-run eighth inning.
— The Marlins on Tuesday placed left-handed relief pitcher Andrew Nardi on the 15-day injured list with left triceps inflammation and recalled right-handed pitcher George Soriano.
Through games played Monday, Nardi was tied for second in MLB with 41 relief appearances. He has a 3.19 ERA and has been one of the Marlins’ top relievers when it comes to stranding inherited runners. On the season, only four of 31 runners he inherited when entering a game have scored.
