Stanton’s huge HR not enough
MIAMI — Often road kill away from Miami, the Marlins have lately been killers at home under the dome.
Attempting to explain this split personality, slugger Giancarlo Stanton said maybe they are more accustomed to the bigness of Marlins Park.
Then to illustrate his point, Stanton hit his most monstrous home run there this season, a 479-foot blast (according to Statcast) off the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez, his 26th, in the first inning Tuesday that landed on the concourse to the right of the Budweiser bar.
While it got the Marlins off to a resounding start against the winningest team in the major leagues, they weren’t able to sustain their recent home dominance as St. Louis rallied from a three-run deficit for a 4-3 victory.
Unfortunately for the Marlins, they played small at key moments after the big start.
“I think four of the first five innings we had the leadoff man on and were unable to push him across,” Marlins manager Dan Jennings said.
“When you play a team like the Cardinals — there’s a reason they have the record that they have — when you get leadoff guys on you’ve got to get them over and get them in. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that tonight.”
The Cardinals took the lead with two outs in the seventh on Mark Reynolds’ infield single off the leg of reliever Sam Dyson, who had hit two batters on the way to loading the bases.
Martinez (8-3) overcame a shaky start and getting hit in the shoulder by Dyson while attempting to bunt to complete seven innings and earn his fifth win in his past six decisions.
The Marlins had won nine of their previous 11 at Marlins Park. They 13-24 on the road.
“We’re comfortable here, obviously. We have a bigger park, so we know how to play a little better than the other teams coming in,” said Stanton, who at times has complained about the cavernous confines costing him home runs.
But when he connects solidly, Stanton can hit one out of any park — including Yosemite.
In his first at-bat after it was revealed he has moved up to second among National League outfielders in All-Star voting, Stanton showed why his selection should be a no-brainer with his seventh homer longer than 450 feet this season.
A two-out single by Christian Yelich set the stage, and Stanton straightened out a 2-2- slider from Martinez for a 2-0 Marlins lead.
They added to it in the second when Marcell Ozuna led off with an oppositefield double off the fence in right, and Adeiny Hechavarria sent a one-out single up the middle for a runscoring hit.
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But rookie Jose Urena gave the lead away in the span of four batters in the fourth, beginning with a homer by Jason Heyward into the upper deck in right (418 feet).
A single by Yadier Molina and a walk to Jon Jay followed, and both scored on Xavier Scruggs’ double into the corner in left.
Urena wasn’t as sharp as
Cardinals at Marlins
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On the mound
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Upcoming series in his previous four outings as he lasted five innings, allowing five hits and walking three.
“My control wasn’t there. A couple pitches I was trying to go away [and] caught more of the zone. That’s what happened with the home run. Sometimes you make those mistakes and you pay for them,” Urena said.