ST. LOUIS _ Giancarlo Stanton was the talk of baseball earlier this week when he slugged a record 61 balls beyond the fences in the Home Run Derby.
The slugging right fielder didn't even have to put his bat on the ball to help spark a big inning for the Marlins on Friday. Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal nicked Stanton with a 97-mph fastball with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to drive in a run.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals were staging their own homer fest, sending four balls into the seats.
But it was a seeing-eye single by Miguel Rojas through the left side of the infield in the ninth inning that finally lifted the Marlins to a 7-6 victory in the back-and-forth tussle that saw the lead change hands five times. Rojas has come off the bench two innings earlier.
That scored Marcell Ozuna, who hit a liner to center that carried over Randal Grichuk for a double off reliever Seung Hwan Oh.
Ozuna, the All-Star center fielder, had given the Marlins a lead with a two-run single in the seventh. But it was short-lived.
Cardinals left fielder Tommy Pham hit two of the homers for St. Louis to drive in four runs. Pham, who had three in the first half of the season, hit a three-run shot off Wei-Yin Chen to left in the fourth and greeted reliever David Phelps with a tying drive to center leading off the bottom of the seventh.
Two batters later, Grichuk hit the first pitch he saw from Phelps over the wall in center to put the Cardinals ahead.
The baseball-savvy crowd gave an appreciative ovation when Ichiro Suzuki came up as a pinch hitter in the eighth. Ichiro obliged with a single to center off Kevin Siegrist for his 2,991st hit.
Cardinals fans weren't so appreciative when Ichiro advanced to second on a wild pickoff attempt by Siegrist and then scored on Martin Prado's two-out single. That tied the score once again and took Phelps off the hook.
The Marlins had taken the lead in the top of the seventh with three runs. After Rosenthal hit Stanton, Ozuna followed with crisp single to center to drive in two more runs for a 5-4 Miami lead.
The Marlins had trailed 4-1 after Chen gave up four runs on two homers in the span of five batters in the fourth. Stephen Piscotty started it with a leadoff homer, and Pham delivered a three-run crusher after a pair of singles.
Improved starting pitching has been identified as the top priority for the Marlins in their bid for the playoffs. That may require making a deal for a starter before the trading deadline. The more immediate remedy could be improved performance from within.
Chen was candidate No. 1 to turn the page on a sub-par first half as the Marlins returned from the All-Star break.
All the runs Chen allowed in six innings came on the two homers, but their pushed an already ERA to 4.90. He had a 3.72 mark in his four seasons with Baltimore.
Chen, Miami's prized offseason acquisition but who has failed to duplicate his success in the American League, has served 19 homers. That's two behind Max Scherzer for the most allowed by a National League starter.
Stanton, in his first game since his record-setting win in the Home Run Derby in San Diego, extended his hitting streak to eight games. He had two hits, including a double along with a walk and the hit by pitch.
Chris Johnson drove in a pair of runs for Miami with a double and a groundout.
