Marlins leapfrog Cardinals in standings, clinch season series

[Ely Sussman]

The Miami Marlins are a season-best five games over .500 following their wire-to-wire win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday. Following a shutout of the Cardinals in the previous game, Ryan Gusto and a handful of relievers nearly repeated the feat in this 5-1 contest.

Kyle Stowers jolted the Fish to a 2-0 lead with RBI singles in both the first and third innings. Stowers' bat continues to be particularly potent in games when he plays first base (slashing .304/.411/.630 with 13 RBI in those 14 games).

In addition to Stowers, Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez and Javier Sanoja collected multi-hit games. As a result, one of my favorite "streaks" remains intact: Lopez has hits in all 27 Marlins series this season.

Trying to leg out an infield hit in the top of the ninth, Lopez landed on the bag awkwardly and experienced some right ankle discomfort. He completed the rest of the game, but that's an injury concern to monitor moving forward.

The Marlins once again kept Gusto on a short leash, calling to the bullpen after 3 ⅓ innings of scoreless work from him. John King, the first arm used in relief, made easy work of his former teammates, building upon what's been a career year for the veteran southpaw.

The quintet of Gusto, King, Lake Bachar, Anthony Bender and Tyler Zuber did not allow any extra-base hits.

This was the Marlins' fourth win over St. Louis in five head-to-head meetings, clinching the season series. Put a pin in that because it's the primary tiebreaker used to determine National League wild-card berths should multiple clubs finish with identical records.

In the meantime, by improving to 44-39 overall, the Marlins are a half-game ahead of the 42-38 Cardinals. The NL WC spots are currently occupied by the Philadelphia Phillies (46-37), Chicago Cubs (45-38) and San Diego Padres (43-37).

The sixth and final matchup between the Fish and Cards is scheduled for Sunday at 2:15 p.m. ET.

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