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May 19, 2010 - 4:43 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Florida (20-19) at St. Louis (22-17), 8:15 p.m. EDT

Hanley Ramirez wouldn't apologize Tuesday for actions that Fredi Gonzalez deemed a lack of hustle, instead taking aim at his manager while spending another game on the bench.

The Florida Marlins could certainly use all the help they can get against Jaime Garcia.

It's uncertain if Ramirez will be back in the lineup as the Marlins begin a two-game set Wednesday night in St. Louis, where the Cardinals' surprising rookie left-hander has yet to allow a run.

Ramirez fouled a ball off his left shin in the first inning of Monday's 5-1 loss to Arizona, but stayed in the game after failing to run full speed down the line while grounding into a double play later in the at-bat.

After a looper fell behind him in the top of the second, Ramirez booted it into foul territory and appeared to be jogging after the ball, which enraged Gonzalez. The manager pulled the reigning NL batting champion in the third inning.

Ramirez chose not to apologize Tuesday, saying he "wasn't trying to give up" on the ball. Then, he turned on Gonzalez.

"It's his team. He can do whatever," Ramirez said, mixing in an expletive. "There's nothing I can do about it.

"That's OK. He doesn't understand that. He never played in the big leagues."

Gonzalez said that Ramirez isn't suspended, but wouldn't specify if he'll return against St. Louis (23-17).

"I think he needs to take care of the situation," Gonzalez told the Marlins' official website. "When he handles that, the right way, we'll be fine."

Florida (21-19) looked fine without Ramirez on Tuesday, using homers from Cameron Maybin and Dan Uggla and excellent pitching from Josh Johnson to beat the Diamondbacks 8-0.

That hardly took the focus off of Ramirez's benching, however.

"I think if it happened to anybody else in here, I think other teammates would feel the same way about it," Maybin said. "We definitely support Fredi's decision and we thought it was the right decision."

Maybin and his teammates figure to have a more difficult time scoring Wednesday, even if Ramirez is back. Garcia (4-2, 1.42 ERA) hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his seven starts, and he's yielded only five hits over 14 innings in two outings at Busch Stadium.

Garcia gave up two runs over 6 1-3 innings Friday at Cincinnati, striking out six, in a 4-3 victory.

"He locates well," outfielder Ryan Ludwick told the Cardinals' official website. "He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He sinks it, he cuts it, he's got a slow curveball, a changeup. And he handles himself so well.

"He's first-class when it comes to being a baseball player."

It was Ludwick who made the difference for St. Louis on Tuesday against Washington. After the Nationals tied the score at 2-all in the top of the eighth, Ludwick homered in the bottom half to lift the Cardinals to a 3-2 win.

"I guess that's the one way you can make sure you get a hit, hit it where they can't catch it," Ludwick said after improving his home average to .386.

Tuesday's easy win capped a 5-1 homestand for the Marlins, and they'll open a five-game road trip with Anibal Sanchez (2-2, 3.83) coming off his best start.

The right-hander lasted a season-high seven innings Friday against the New York Mets, yielding two runs and four hits while striking out seven in a 7-2 victory.

Sanchez pitched well in his lone career appearance versus St. Louis despite losing 4-2. He struck out eight - Albert Pujols twice - while allowing three runs over seven innings.