Cardinals 3, Marlins 1
ST. LOUIS -- Jaime Garcia was the model of efficiency Friday night.
Throwing just 96 pitches over 8 1/3 innings, Garcia piloted the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium.
Garcia (5-4) scattered six hits and allowed an unearned run, walking one and fanning six. He missed the strike zone with only 27 pitches and never ran a three-ball count on any hitter until walking first baseman Casey McGehee in the ninth.
Miami scored when a fielding error by right fielder Jason Heyward on a single by center fielder Cole Gillespie brought left fielder Derek Dietrich home from second, but closer Trevor Rosenthal picked up the last two outs for his 36th save in 38 chances.
Tom Koehler (8-10) was a tough-luck loser for Miami, yielding only five hits and two runs in seven solid innings with a walk and two strikeouts.
First baseman Mark Reynolds and third baseman Matt Carpenter gave Garcia some late insurance. Reynolds lined an RBI single in the seventh for a 2-0 St. Louis lead, and Carpenter led off the eighth with his 18th homer, a 419-foot shot to left-center off reliever Mike Dunn.
St. Louis (74-41) improved to 18-8 since the All-Star break and maintained a six-game lead in the National League Central over Pittsburgh. The Marlins (46-69) saw their three-game winning streak end.
Pitching dominated the first half of the game. Garcia retired the first nine batters he faced and needed only 58 pitches to author five shutout innings, getting a strikeout in each inning.
Koehler matched Garcia until the fifth. Reynolds doubled off the center-field wall with one out, moved to third on Garcia's groundout and scored when Carpenter pushed a bunt down the third-base line for an RBI single.
Marlins right fielder Ichiro Suzuki made history of sorts with a two-out single to left in the fifth. Counting his hits in his native Japan, Suzuki has 4,191, matching the career total of Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.
NOTES: Miami CF Christian Yelich (right knee contusion) didn't start for the third straight game. He hasn't played since a 4-1 win in Atlanta on Sunday. ... The Cardinals have the best home record in baseball (43-17), a stat they have been able to pad greatly since the All-Star break. They are finishing a stretch of 23 home games out of 31 since the break. ... The Marlins' 10-run sixth inning Wednesday against Boston tied the club record for most runs in an inning. The Marlins also scored 10 in the eighth inning vs. Arizona on July 9, 2009.