Cardinals ninth-inning rally comes up short in 6-4 loss to Marlins

Paul Goldschmidt homered and the Cardinals offense racked up 15 hits, but it wasn’t enough as St. Louis fell 6-4 to the Marlins on Saturday.

The Cardinals kept it close but weren’t ever able to get a lead against the Marlins.

Jack Flaherty pitched three solid innings, giving up three hits and one unearned run in the first. Paul Goldschmidt quickly erased the 1-0 Miami lead with a solo home run.

Kwang Hyun Kim entered the game in the fourth and gave up two runs on back-to-back triples and a sacrifice fly, which gave the Marlins a 3-1 lead. Kim finished his outing on a strong note with a scoreless fifth.

Alex Reyes and Kodi Whitley were bright spots on the mound for the Cardinals, throwing one scoreless frame each.

Paul DeJong had an RBI single in the seventh, and Yadier Molina went 3 for 5.

St. Louis had plenty of opportunities to drive in more runs but struggled to capitalize with runners in scoring position. They trailed 6-3 in the eighth and had the bases loaded with one out, but Edmundo Sosa hit into a double play, ending the Cardinals’ threat.

Tyler O’Neill had two RBI singles, one in the fourth to drive in Arenado and another in the ninth to shrink the Marlins’ lead to 6-4. The Cardinals couldn’t push any more across the plate, though, and ended the game with runners on.

The Cardinals have two spring training games left before regular-season play begins. They take the field next against Washington on Sunday and will wrap up spring training against the Mets on Monday at Roger Dean Stadium.