Cardinals 4, Marlins 1
ST. LOUIS -- One big inning and Jake Westbrook's efficient pitching were enough to get St. Louis back in the win column after a rough stretch against the American League West.
A three-run third inning and Westbrook's three-hit work through seven innings Friday night lifted the Cardinals to a 4-1 win over Miami at Busch Stadium.
Allen Craig drove in two runs and Matt Holliday doubled twice for St. Louis (51-34), which won for just the fourth time in 12 games and stayed within two games of front-running Pittsburgh in the National League Central.
Westbrook (5-3) needed just 86 pitches to negotiate a Marlins lineup which entered the game with just four players hitting better than .232. The veteran had his sinker dive-bombing to perfection, getting 18 of his 21 outs via grounders.
Trevor Rosenthal fanned the side in the eighth and Edward Mujica rebounded from his first blown save in Thursday night's 6-5 loss against the Angels, working a clean ninth for his 22nd save.
St. Louis grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first against Turner on two-out doubles by Matt Holliday and Allen Craig, but Miami evened the score two pitches into the second as Logan Morrison lined a 440-foot homer over the wall in center.
The Cardinals untied it in their half of the third with three runs. Holliday doubled for the second straight at-bat to score Matt Carpenter and Craig plated Jon Jay with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right. Matt Adams doubled off the wall in left-center to score Holliday.
The Marlins had a chance to cut into the deficit in their half of the fifth but were hurt by two botched calls on Turner's bunt. Catcher Yadier Molina appeared to field it in foul ground, but tagged Turner out as crew chief and plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth signaled fair.
Molina's throw to third beat Adelny Hechavarria, but David Freese never tagged him. However, Brian O'Nora called Hechavarria out, even though the force was removed when Turner was tagged out.
NOTES: St. Louis RHP Chris Carpenter (right shoulder) threw 106 pitches on Friday in a bullpen session and was "really encouraged" after it was over. There's a chance he could go on a rehab assignment soon ... One reason for Miami's recent success has been its ability to avoid walks. Since June 18, it's doled out just 32 in 133 2/3 innings, the best in the National League and the third-lowest in MLB ... The Cardinals gave SS Pete Kozma, who's 0-for-17 with seven strikeouts in his last five games, his second straight game off. RF Carlos Beltran also didn't start after playing in all eight games of their just-concluded road trip.
