Mattingly turns to old pal to put out Cards’ fire

MARLINS 2, CARDINALS 1

MIAMI — Javy Guerra kept closer Kyle Barraclough’s struggles from costing Miami a victory Monday night.

Guerra cleaned up a ninth-inning mess created by Barraclough, getting Yadier Molina to hit into a double play to end the Marlins’ 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

“It was important to be ready,” Guerra said. “I think overall I went in there prepared and got the right results. It went well.”

After Wei-Yin Chen (4-8) pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, Miami led 2-0 going into the ninth and handed the game off to Barraclough.

Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader opened the inning with hard-hit singles, then Yairo Munoz walked. Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong struck out looking, but Matt Carpenter drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-1 and end Barraclough’s night.

“Carp works the walk and then you’ve got the guy that you want up there every night in that situation with Yadi,” Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt said.

Guerra got Molina, a career .309 hitter with the bases loaded, to bounce into a double play for his first save since Sept. 27, 2014, while with the Chicago White Sox.

“He saved [21 of 22] games for me in LA [in 2011],” Mattingly said. “I’ve seen him be in bases-loaded jams with nobody out and get out of them, so I know he’s a guy who’s not going to panic in that spot.”

Barraclough had blown his past three save chances, allowing 10 runs in 2 2/3 innings.

His role could be in jeopardy. “I think he’s healthy,” Mattingly said. “If he’s not healthy, he’s not

telling us, which I don’t think is the case, but it’s something that obviously you’re not going to sit here and make any kind of decisions quickly after a game. We just won a game, and we wouldn’t do anything without talking to him about it anyway.”

Starlin Castro had two hits, including his ninth home run for the Marlins, who returned home after a six-game winless road trip.

Luke Weaver (6-10) allowed 2 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings for St. Louis.

Derek Dietrich doubled to begin the game for the Marlins and scored on a check-swing hit by Brian Anderson (Arkansas Razorbacks).

Castro’s home run to left in the fourth gave Miami a 2-0 lead. METS 6, REDS 4 and Noah Syndergaard Rookie and Jeff host McNeil New homered York beat Cincinnati in a matchup of struggling teams. ROCKIES 2, PIRATES 0 Kyle Freeland and host Colorado’s bullpen combined on a two-hitter to help the Rockies beat Pittsburgh in a game that was interrupted 32 minutes by rain. Freeland (10-7) allowed 2 hits and struck out 5 over 7 stellar innings. Relievers Seunghwan Oh and Wade Davis combined to close out the victory. Davis pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save in 38 chances.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning in his first start with visiting New York, and the Yankees rebounded from their tough weekend in Boston by beating the Chicago White Sox. Lynn provided a big boost for New York after it dropped a season-high five consecutive games. INDIANS 10, TWINS 0 Trevor Bauer struck out 11 and allowed 3 hits in 6 innings, and host Cleveland hit four home runs in routing Minnesota. Bauer (11-6) has 206 strikeouts this season, one behind Boston’s Chris Sale for the AL lead. MARINERS 4, RANGERS 3 (12) Ryon Healy had a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the 12th inning and visiting Seattle beat Texas after blowing a three-run lead. The Rangers trailed 3-0 before six consecutive batters reached base in the seventh against starter Wade LeBlanc and three relievers.

INTERLEAGUE

CUBS 3, ROYALS 1 Javier Baez went deep, Cole Hamels pitched six innings and visiting Chicago beat Kansas City. Baez hit the first pitch from reliever Kevin McCarthy (4-4) in the sixth inning to center for his 25th home run, putting the Cubs ahead 2-1. Baez doubled in the eighth to score Jason Heyward, upping his RBI total to an NL-leading 88.