The first inning was a pretty wild one to say the least as the two teams combined to put up nine runs. In the top half of the first inning, St. Louis scored five runs as Yadier Molina had a two-run single that drove in both Jon Jay and Matt Holliday to get the party started. David Freese then singled to center to drive in Allen Craig which was followed up by an RBI double off the bat of Daniel Descalso and ended with Pete Kozma driving in Freese due to a fielders choice.
Down 5-0 entering the bottom half of the first inning though didn't affect the Marlins at the plate though. Miami scored four runs themselves as Ed Lucas started it off with an RBI single that brought home Juan Pierre -- and he scored after Adeiny Hechavarria him home with an RBI single of his own. Rob Brantly drov in the final two runs in the inning with a 2-out two-run single and finished the contest 2 for 3 at the plate with three RBIs.
Beltran started off the second inning with a bomb to right field as it was his first of the game. Giancarlo Stanton responded in the bottom of the second with a home run of his own and his was a two-run homer that drove in Lucas for his second run of the game -- and after two innings of baseball in the great state of sunshine, it was a 6-6 tie.
It was a game that seen 28 hits as the Cardinals out hit the Marlins by a total of 17 to 11 and had every single starter for St. Louis finish with at least one hit -- with five of them having two or more.
Despite the fact that it was one of his worst starts on the mound stat-wise so far this season, Lynn recieved the win which jumped his record to 9-1 overall on the season as he allowed seven runs on nine hits in just five innings. In his final at-bat of the game though, as the Cardinals were ahead 7-6 following a third-inning home run from Freese, he drove in two runs himself with a single to shallow right. His hit broke the game open at 9-6 at the time, which ultimately proved to be the game-winning hit.
Molina, who has the leagues highest batting average at .352, went 2-for-5 at the plate and finished with three RBIs himself. Also driving in multiple runs for St. Louis was Beltran (2), Freese (2), and Lynn (2).
Tom Koehler lasted just 4 2/3 innings on the mound for the Marlins though, as he allowed nine runs on eight hits and seen his record fall to 0-5 for the season. Also, the bullpen for the Marlins pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits as they used four players. As for the Cardinals bullpen, who used four guys that included three rookies, performed four innings of work as they gave up no runs on two hits.
With the win, the Cardinals improved their record back to 20 games over the .500 mark at 44-24 and evened up the series and keep their streak alive as they will be going for 15 consecutive series wins tomorrow afternoon in the rubbermatch of this three game series. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 20-47.
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