Marlins at Cardinals
The Miami Marlins answered being shut out for the 13th time this season by blanking the St. Louis Cardinals for the second time in 2019 to even their four-game series at one win apiece. The Marlins look to ride the momentum of just their third victory in 12 contests into Wednesday's game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Starlin Castro snapped Miami's 18-inning scoring drought with a homer to lead off the fifth inning and Brian Anderson added a two-run shot in the seventh in Tuesday's 6-0 win. Anderson is 7-for-19 in the season series and Garrett Cooper is 7-for-16 versus St. Louis as he carries an 11-game hitting streak into Wednesday's contest. Hits were hard to come by for the Cardinals, who saw Dexter Fowler record one of his team's two on Tuesday to give him five -- including three homers -- to go along with nine RBIs and four runs scored in his last five games. Marcell Ozuna wasn't as fortunate as he went 0-for-4 against his former team after recording multi-hit performances in three of his previous four encounters.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Miami), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Trevor Richards (3-7, 3.68 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-0, 2.00)
Richards' streaky season continued on Friday as he lost his second straight start after allowing five runs on a career-high 11 hits in five innings of an 11-0 shellacking by Pittsburgh. The 26-year-old's recent span followed a 3-0 run over a four-start stretch, which answered an 0-5 mark in his first eight outings. Matt Carpenter, Jose Martinez and Yadier Molina have each homered against Richards, who owns an 0-2 mark with a 5.06 ERA in two career starts versus St. Louis.
Ponce de Leon allowed one run on two hits in both of his starts for St. Louis this season, although a four-walk performance on Friday drove up his pitch count and resulted in an early exit after four innings against the New York Mets. Manager Mike Shildt told reporters that the 27-year-old "did a lot to help his cause" as St. Louis addressed the hole in its rotation while fellow right-hander Adam Wainwright deals with a mild left hamstring strain. Prior to his last outing, Ponce de Leon posted a 4-4 mark with a 3.90 ERA in 11 starts for Triple-A Memphis.
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis 1B Paul Goldschmidt is 0-for-8 in the series against Miami and 1-for-20 in his last six games overall.
2. Marlins RF Harold Ramirez is 14-for-38 with six runs scored in his last 10 contests.
3. Molina is 0-for-9 in his last three games with Miami.