The St. Louis Cardinals, winners of five of their past six games, will go for a third straight series victory on Tuesday night when they oppose the host Miami Marlins.
St. Louis blew three leads on Monday but eventually beat the Marlins 7-6 in 12 innings.
Despite the loss, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker didn’t lament the missed opportunities but rather lauded his club’s resiliency.
“Our guys don’t quit — hell of an effort against Sonny Gray, who is one of best starters in the league, and a really good (Cardinals) bullpen,” Schumaker said. “I’m super proud of how our guys fought back.”
The Tuesday pitching matchup will feature two right-handers. Lance Lynn (2-3, 3.75 ERA) will go for the Cardinals against the Marlins’ Roddery Munoz (1-2, 4.56).
Munoz, a 24-year-old rookie from the Dominican Republic, had remarkably little fanfare prior to his major league debut on April 20. After all, his ERA in the minors was 5.49 this year and 5.42 in 2023.
In the majors, Munoz has turned in two quality starts in five attempts. He held the New York Mets to one hit, one walk and no runs in his most recent start, a no-decision in a 3-2 Marlins loss on Thursday.
He also held Colorado to one run on three hits in six innings on May 1. Munoz has yet to face St. Louis.
The Marlins’ offense is led by center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. The Cardinals thought so highly of the 26-year-old that they walked him three times on Monday, including once intentionally.
He finished 2-for-2 with an RBI triple, pushing his OPS to .785.
“Every time there’s a game-winning opportunity, I want to be that guy,” said Chisholm, who has 10 homers and 13 steals this season. “I want to be the guy to put pressure on the bases, and I want to be the guy with the stick, too.”
While the Marlins will start a rookie pitcher on Tuesday, the Cardinals will go with a pitcher who broke in with them 13 years ago.
Lynn, 37, is 4-3 with a 5.68 ERA in 11 career games against the Marlins, including nine starts. He got a no-decision vs. Miami on April 4 after yielding four runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
In five career starts at Miami, Lynn is 2-2 with an 8.64 ERA. This season, however, Lynn has been far better away from home, as he owns a 4.76 ERA in St. Louis and a 2.78 mark on the road.
The Cardinals are 8-6 when he takes the mound this year and 3-0 in his starts this month — even though he has a 5.11 ERA in June.
While the Cardinals — who on Monday surged one game over .500 for the first time since April 6 — can still rely on first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and third baseman Nolan Arenado (15 combined All-Star selections and 14 Gold Gloves), they are dealing some injury issues.
Three projected starters are out — left fielder Lars Nootbaar, center fielder Tommy Edman and catcher Willson Contreras.
“We have yet to play a single game with the starting outfield we were projected to break camp with,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “That matters.”
