By TERRY SPENCER (Associated Press)
MIAMI (AP) — Otto Lopez got his second walk-off hit of the season, a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Tim Anderson and the Miami Marlins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Wednesday.
Lopez’s liner off Ryan Fernandez (0-2) was bobbled by right fielder Alec Burleson, but it is doubtful he would have had a play. Tanner Scott (6-5) got the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth.
The NL-worst Marlins (25-49) took two of three from the Cardinals, who fell back below .500 at 36-37. All three games were decided in the final at-bat, with St. Louis taking Monday’s game 7-6 in 12 innings, with the Marlins winning Tuesday 9-8 in 10.
Lopez had been 0-for-11 in the series before his game-winning hit and 8-for-46 in June.
“It’s not been a good series for me, but I told myself to be positive, as positive as I can,” the second baseman said. Lopez’s previous game-ending single came against the New York Mets last month.
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said he was proud of how his team took the last two games after a crushing loss on Monday and a 1-5 road trip.
“We could have easily folded in Games 2 and 3 after a tough loss the first night against a good Cardinal team, especially after that road trip,” Schumaker said. “Credit to those guys. They still come in positive, thinking they are going to win every single day.”
Kyle Gibson had been scheduled to start for the Cardinals after being on the bereavement list this week following a death in his family, but was scratched just before game time with back tightness. Manager Oliver Marmol said Gibson locked up as he was stretching.
“He couldn’t bend down. He couldn’t do a whole lot of anything,” Marmol said.
Emergency starter Matthew Liberatore gave up homers to the Marlins first two hitters, Bryan De La Cruz, his 13th of the season, and Jesús Sánchez, his sixth. Josh Bell followed with a double and Jake Burger walked, but a double play and a fly out got Liberatore out of the first inning.
He then retired eight more batters in a row before being lifted with two outs in the fourth.
Liberatore said he was walking onto the field for the national anthem when he got called back to the dugout and told he was starting.
“I came back in here (the clubhouse), grabbed my glove, went out and started playing catch. It was about a three-minute process,” Liberatore said.
The Cardinals tied it in the second on a 436-foot homer to center by Nolan Gorman, his 16th, off Marlins starter Yonny Chirinos and Brendan Donovan’s RBI single.
Chirinos, a veteran right-hander, got a no-decision in his Marlins debut, giving up two runs and eight hits in five-plus innings after being called up from Triple-A Jacksonville. He walked none while striking out six.
The Marlins took a 3-2 lead in the sixth, as pinch-hitter Dane Myers drove a line-drive sacrifice fly to right, scoring Sanchez.
An error by Burger at third allowed the Cardinals to tie the game in the seventh as Paul Goldschmidt’s grounder went under his glove and down the line as Masyn Winn scored from first.
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado left the game after being hit in the right elbow by a fastball thrown by Miami Marlins reliever Huascar Brazoban leading off the eighth inning. The team said he suffered a bruise and was undergoing further evaluation. He was replaced in the game by José Fermín.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: Right-hander Giovanny Gallegos (shoulder) could rejoin the team Thursday if his appearance with Triple-A Memphis goes well Wednesday night. … Winn returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game with an illness.
UP NEXT
Right-hander Andre Pallante (2-3, 4.61) will start when the Cardinals travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to play the Giants at historic Rickwood Field on Thursday night. San Francisco has not announced a starting pitcher.
The Marlins host the Mariners in a three-game series starting Friday night.
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