An eighth-inning rally wasn’t enough for the Cardinals in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins on Thursday night at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals put three runs together in the eighth, in an attempt to dig themselves out of a 4-0 hole. With two outs and two on, rookie John Rodriguez doubled to right, scoring Hector Luna. Albert Pujols came to the plate next and singled in Rodriguez to cut the Marlins lead to 4-2. After Jim Edmonds walked, John Mabry came to the plate and doubled in Pujols while Edmonds raced to third base. But So Taguchi, who was the hero earlier in the series with a pinch-hit, three-run homer, grounded to second to end the threat.
Abraham Nunez, Einar Diaz and Luna went down in order in the ninth to end the game.
Florida starting pitcher A.J. Burnett (9-6) lasted into the eighth inning and was charged with three runs off eight hits. Cardinals’ starter Jeff Suppan (10-8) pitched 6 2/3 and was stuck with four runs off ten hits. Marlins reliever Todd Jones pitched 1 1/3 to get his 22nd save.
Miguel Cabrera got Florida on the board in the first inning with a two-run homer off Suppan. It was his 24th home run of the season. He finished 4-for-4 with twp runs and two RBI’s. Alex Gonzalez and Paul Lo Duca drove in a run apiece with singles in the fourth and fifth innings to give Florida a 4-0 advantage.