The Miami Marlins took a three-game winning streak into their game with the St. Louis Cardinals and saw it end with a 3-1 loss on Friday.
The win streak helped Miami crawl out of the basement of the National League East. It also stopped Miami from being the worst team in Major League Baseball. Miami maintains a half game lead over the last place Philadelphia Phillies despite this loss.
The Cardinals have the best record in MLB and St.Louis starter Jaime Garcia showed why with a shutdown pitching effort. The Marlins' offense was kept quiet until the ninth inning when it rallied for its only run. That run was aided by an error after Cole Gillespie lined a ball to the outfield.
Miami had Tom Koehler on the mound for the start and he pitched well. Koehler allowed two runs in seven innings with one run coming in his final frame. Despite the great effort, Koehler was tagged with the loss to fall to 8-10 on the season.
Mike Dunn would work the eighth inning and he ended up surrendering an additional run. Dunn has been struggling as of late, and remains a candidate to be traded during the waiver period. Dunn may not have a place in Miami's bullpen next season with several emerging young arms.
The Marlins combined for seven hits and all of them were singles. Base running didn't help Miami either as Dee Gordon was picked off in his lone appearance on the base paths. Gordon has been a spark plug for Miami, but has been picked off or caught stealing on numerous occasions this year.
Brad Hand will be given the ball on Saturday as Miami looks to begin a new winning streak.
