Mike Stanton had three hits, including a triple, and stole a base for the Marlins, but the Fish lost 3-2 to the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night.
Albert Pujols doubled off Florida starter Anibal Sanchez (6-5) to lead off the eighth inning, and Lance Berkman drove Sanchez's final pitch of the game into center field to put St. Louis on top.
Matt Holliday hit his 18th home run for St. Louis. Mitchell Boggs (1-3) threw a scoreless seventh for the win, and Lance Lynn struck out Stanton with the bases loaded to end the game and seal his first major-league save.
Florida had a chance in the ninth.
Joe Thurston, selected earlier in the day by St. Louis from Triple-A New Orleans and back in the majors for the first time since 2009, had runners on first and second after Dewayne Wise drew a one-out walk.
But Lynn — called on to close after Fernando Salas needed a combined 51 pitches in appearances Tuesday and Thursday — struck out Emilio Bonifacio on a 95 mph fastball, then after walking Greg Dobbs on four pitches to load the bases, got Stanton out swinging.
Sanchez gave up eight hits and three runs while striking out seven in 7 1-3 innings, and it still wasn't enough to snap the right-hander's 10-game winless streak. He batted in the seventh, the Marlins clearly thinking he had one more inning of work left against the heart of the Cardinals' order.
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The move backfired after Pujols and Berkman doubled two batters apart, and the Marlins lost for the sixth time in their last eight home games.
The Marlins are already ailing up-the-middle defensively, with second baseman Omar Infante going on the disabled list Friday with a broken finger and shortstop Hanley Ramirez still dealing with a sprained left shoulder — and another blow came Friday, when center fielder Mike Cameron sprained his left hand.
Cameron was shaken up trying to make a diving catch, appearing to twist his wrist in the turf and writhing in pain for a few moments. Cameron remained in the game until the bottom of the sixth, when he was replaced by pinch-hitter Bryan Petersen.
Cameron was 2 for 2, raising his average to .177 for the season, .219 in 21 games with Florida.
Florida opened the scoring in the third when Stanton — batting third for the first time in his career, just as Logan Morrison debuted in the cleanup spot — hit an RBI triple to the gap in right-center to score Dobbs. Morrison nearly made it 2-0, but Pujols ranged to his right to snare a sharp grounder that he flipped to Westbrook covering the bag to end the inning.
St. Louis took the lead in the fourth on Holliday's leadoff homer, a double by Berkman and a run-scoring single two batters later by Gerald Laird. Buck pulled Florida into a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the home half of the fourth.
Notes: Florida RHP Ricky Nolasco is scheduled to start against St. Louis for the seventh time in his career Saturday night, still seeking his first win against the club. Nolasco is 0-3 with a 7.06 ERA all-time against the Cardinals, giving up 10 hits and seven runs over five innings in each of his last two outings against them.
