Final
Johnson helps Marlins beat Cards 5-2
Sep 16, 2009 - 11:46 PM ST. LOUIS(AP) -- Josh Johnson showed why he's one of the top starters in the majors on Wednesday.Even without his best stuff, the right-hander was good enough to shut down the St. Louis Cardinals.
Johnson pitched six effective innings to lead the Florida Marlins to a 5-2 victory over the Cardinals.
Cody Ross had three hits and drove in two runs for Florida, which has won 10 of 14 to stay in the playoff race. Ross extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest current streak in the NL, and was 5 for 12 in the series.
Florida (78-68) moved within four games of wild card-leading Colorado, which was at San Francisco on Wednesday night.
"This is a resilient team," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "They forget bad losses quickly and go on to the next game."
Johnson (15-4) gave up nine hits but allowed just one run in his 23rd quality start of the season. He struck out five and walked none, improving to 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA in his last five starts.
"They made good contact with the ball," Johnson said. "I'd throw good pitches and they'd get hits. It was one of those days where I didn't walk anybody. That was huge for me today."
The Cardinals rallied in the ninth. Jason LaRue walked with one out and Mark DeRosa followed with a double to left. Gonzalez then replaced Brian Sanches with closer Leo Nunez, whose wildness got the Marlins into more trouble.
Nunez hit Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols to force in a run before coaxing Matt Holliday into a game-ending double play for his 22nd save in 28 opportunities.
"I really focused on throwing the fastball low and away," said Nunez, who had hit only two batters in his previous 68 innings. "I just wanted to get the ground ball and I got it."
Central-leading St. Louis fell to 1-5 on its nine-game homestand and lost back-to-back series for the first time since June 22-28 against the New York Mets and Minnesota.
Joel Pineiro (14-11) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings for St. Louis.
Eight of Florida's first 10 batters reached safely. John Baker and Ross had RBI singles and Dan Uggla also drove in a run in the first with a fielder's choice.
Johnson helped himself in the second, leading off with an infield single before eventually coming home on Jorge Cantu's sacrifice fly.
Julio Lugo had an RBI single in the sixth for St. Louis, which has scored two or fewer runs in four of its last five losses.
"I'm not worried at all about our offense," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "Good pitching stops good hitting. I really like this club we have."
NOTES: Florida rookie Chris Coghlan singled in the second inning, giving him an NL-best 83 hits since the All-Star break. ... The first 17 hits in the game were singles. ... The teams split the six-game season series. ... St. Louis closer Ryan Franklin, who blew his last two save opportunities, pitched a scoreless ninth inning. ... The Cardinals were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
- Cardinals 2, Marlins 5 - FINAL
FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Coghlan lf 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 .303
N Johnson 1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .302
B Hayes pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
B Sanches p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
H Ramirez ss 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 .357
J Can
Sep 16 5:16 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
HIT BY PITCH BY ALBERT PUJOLS SCORED BRENDAN RYAN
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A PUJOLS ON FIRST, R LUDWICK ON SECOND, M
DEROSA ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 5
ST LOUIS 2 BOTTOM,9TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: M HOLLIDAY (.360, 1-FOR-4)
Marlins 5, Cardinals 2 Bot 9, 0 OutsSep 16 5:14 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CODY ROSS SCORED DAN UGGLA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C ROSS ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 5
ST LOUIS 1 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: C MAYBIN (.222, 0-FOR-3)
Marlins 5, Cardinals 1 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 16 4:35 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JULIO LUGO SCORED YADIER MOLINA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J LUGO ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 4
ST LOUIS 1 BOTTOM,6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: D REYES (-, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Marlins 4, Cardinals 1 Bot 6, 0 OutsSep 16 4:06 PM - NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JORGE CANTU SCORED JOSH JOHNSON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, H RAMIREZ ON FIRST, C COGHLAN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 4
ST LOUIS 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: D UGGLA (.243, 0-FOR-1, RBI)
Marlins 4, Cardinals 0 Top 2, 0 OutsSep 16 2:48 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
FLORIDA 3 3 5 0
ST LOUIS 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: FLA - JOSH JOHNSON
STL - JOEL PINEIRO
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: S SCHUMAKER (.299, 4 HR, 34 RBI)
R ANKIEL (.235, 11 HR, 37 RBI)
A PUJOLS (.331, 47 HR, 126 RBI)
Marlins 3, Cardinals 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 16 2:27 PM
Related News
- Tuesday Open Thread Dec 26
- Vote on the Cardinals next best prospect - 2024 Dec 25
- Cardinals in the Lab: Offseason Tracker Dec 24
- What Would You Do With $33M? (An Open Thread Discussion) Dec 23
- John Mozeliak has not closed the door on the Cardinals adding a starting pitcher Dec 22
- Vote on the Cardinals’ best prospect - 2024 Dec 21
- Let’s Argue! The Cardinals Lineup Dec 20
- Pulled Fly Balls: An Area For Growth Dec 19
- What would it take to get the Marlins’ pitchers? Dec 18
- A Cardinals News Roundup Dec 17
- Saturday SOC: Should the Cardinals Extend Paul Goldschmidt? Dec 16
- Friday Open Thread Dec 15