Yelich, Bour HR as Marlins top Carpenter, Cards
JUPITER, Fla. -- The ball was flying out of Roger Dean Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and Tyler Moore's drive in the seventh inning ended up being the difference in the Marlins' 8-7 victory over the Cardinals in the Grapefruit League opener.
On the sunny day, five home runs were hit, with Miami collecting three. Matt Carpenter belted a two-run shot, and Harrison Bader delivered a solo shot for the Cardinals. Christian Yelich and Justin Bour each went deep in the third inning off Seunghwan Oh. Moore's two-out shot in the seventh inning reclaimed the lead for the Marlins.
"A lot of good stuff happened out there, a lot of good at-bats," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Obviously, some stuff we need to get better at. But a lot of good things happened as far as backing up bases, good at-bats."
Edinson Volquez, making his Miami debut, worked one inning, giving up a run on no hits. William Fowler walked to lead off the game, stole second and scored on Carpenter's sacrifice fly to center.
"I thought he did a great job," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Fowler. "I thought we took good at-bats all the way through. It looked like our at-bats were more on time than we've seen in the past. Guys look ready."
Giancarlo Stanton's double-play grounder to short pulled the Marlins even at 1 in the first inning, scoring J.T. Realmuto, who singled off Luke Weaver.
Picking up the save for the Marlins was right-hander Brandon Cunniff, who appeared in 15 games for the Braves last season. Cunniff signed a Minor League deal in October and he is not in big league camp.
Cardinals Up Next: The Cardinals will host the Marlins on Sunday in the first of their 16 Grapefruit League home games this spring. Right-hander Mike Mayers, who made four big league appearances last season, will get the start. Brett Cecil, who signed a four-year deal with St. Louis in November, is expected to pitch in relief, along with Sandy Alcantara, Matt Bowman and Jonathan Broxton.
Marlins Up Next: Home against the Cardinals on Saturday, the Marlins are the road team at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. Dan Straily, acquired in a trade with the Reds, gets the start and is likely to throw one inning. Left-hander Adam Conley, projected to be in the rotation, will pitch an inning of relief. Marcell Ozuna, who was given Saturday off, is expected to start in left field, with Yelich in center and Stanton in right.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.