Cardinals continue collecting hits in win over Marlins

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Aug 19, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — A night after the St. Louis Cardinals combined for 10 hits to help power them to a series-opening win over the Marlins, the offense swung that momentum from Monday into Tuesday.

That effort began four pitches into Tuesday’s matchup.

Kicked off by a hard-hit single from leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar, the Cardinals scored one run in the first inning, scored two in the second inning with a single from Ivan Herrera and struck for four across the frame that followed to hold on to an early lead the Cardinals would not relinquish during their 7-4 win over Miami on Tuesday at loanDepot Park.

The Cardinals (63-64) combined for 12 hits in their second consecutive win over Miami. Eleven of the 12 hits came in the form of singles as four Cardinals, including Nootbaar (2 for 5), Ivan Herrera (2 for 5), Willson Contreras (2 for 5) and Thomas Saggese (3 for 4) had multi-hit nights. Herrera led the Cardinals with three RBIs.

A persistent offense elevated Michael McGreevy to a lead before he took the mound. The rookie right-hander worked three scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the fourth and another two in the sixth. Relievers Matt Svanson, JoJo Romero and Riley O’Brien combined to pitch the final three innings in relief of McGreevy. O’Brien notched his second save of the season while working around two walks in the ninth inning.

Singles night for the Cardinals

In their efforts to piece together 11 hits and push across six runs against Marlins starter Edward Cabrera, the Cardinals had each of their 11 hits against Miami’s right-hander go for singles.

The double-digit singles effort began with Nootbaar’s 108.7 mph single to lead off the game. Herrera drove in the game’s first run with a single in the at-bat that followed, and Willson Contreras collected the first of his two hard hits with a single that had a 109.6 mph exit velocity, per Statcast.

A single by Herrera in the second inning scored two more runs. Contreras’ single to open the third inning had a 110.7 mph exit velocity behind it and kept the Cardinals’ offensive momentum rolling as they received singles from Saggese and Pedro Pages to push across their fourth run of the night.

The Cardinals connected on at least one single in each of the five innings Cabrera pitched before his exit after 4 1/3 innings. The consistent offense forced Cabrera to throw 99 pitches.

Throwing error costs McGreevy

After he worked three scoreless innings and scattered one hit to begin his outing, McGreevy worked through traffic in the fourth inning. The frame was prolonged by a throwing error.

Shortstop Masyn Winn had trouble cleanly fielding a ground-ball hit by Xavier Edwards, allowing Edwards to reach first base. The play was originally scored as an error, which would have been Winn’s third error of the season and first since June 19, but an official scorer’s decision announced in the next half-inning ruled it a hit.

Jakob Marse capitalized on Edwards’ single by tripling on a fly-ball to left field that Alec Burleson may have lost in the lights. The extra-base hit scored the Marlins’ first run and forced McGreevy to pitch with a runner in scoring position for the first time Tuesday night.

The rookie righty with a knack for inducing groundouts got Augustin Ramirez to hit a grounder back to him. McGreevy fielded the ball cleanly but overthrew Nolan Gorman at third base in an attempt to nab Marsee as he lingered off the bag. The overthrow allowed Marsee to score with ease.

Getting through six

Following a seamless fifth inning that kept his pitch count at 62, McGreevy faced traffic once again during his sixth and final inning. This time, hits allowed on sinkers left in the middle of the zone hurt McGreevy.

Pitching to Ramirez with a runner on first base and one out, McGreevy allowed a double to Ramirez on a 91.2 mph sinker left near the middle of the strike zone to the Marlins catcher. Ramirez was nearly tagged out as he slid into second base. Winn could not squeeze the throw from newcomer Nathan Church as he tried to apply a tag.

McGreevy got a swinging strikeout of left-hander Liam Hicks to record the second out of the inning. He was one pitch away from escaping the jam with the lone run surrendered as he worked with runners on second and third base, but Otto Lopez’s hard-hit single on a first-pitch sinker from McGreevy plated both runners.

The rookie hit Heriberto Hernandez on the very next pitch but got through the inning with a strikeout of Eric Wagaman.

Church collects first RBI

Still looking to check off career firsts following his MLB debut Sunday vs. the Yankees, Church was credited with the first RBI of his young career in the fifth inning.

A well-executed bunt helped him do so.

Batting with runners on first and third base and one out, Church placed a bunt on Cade Gibson’s 0-1 sinker in between the mound and first base. The quality of the bunt allowed Saggese to score from third base without a throw as Wagaman fielded the baseball and threw to first base for the out.

Church’s first career RBI came in his third game and 11th plate appearance. The 25-year-old’s first RBI came before his first hit.

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