MIAMI _ Stop if you've heard this one: After putting an infielder on the disabled list and tweaking their lineup, the Miami Marlins took an early lead against the St. Louis Cardinals but lost after the bullpen took over.
The Marlins' 7-5 loss to the Cards on Wednesday, which completed St. Louis' three-game sweep, followed a script eerily similar to their Tuesday loss.
On Tuesday, Miguel Rojas went on the DL with a fractured right thumb. On Wednesday, it was Adeiny Hechavarria with a strained left oblique.
On Tuesday, manager Don Mattingly unveiled a lineup with the pitcher batting eighth and normal leadoff man Dee Gordon ninth. On Wednesday, it was Dietrich to the top, bumping Marcell Ozuna to the cleanup spot and Giancarlo Stanton to No. 5.
On Tuesday, a sixth-inning rally put the Marlins up by four. On Wednesday, it was a four-run first powered by Christian Yelich and Justin Bour's homers that provided the Miami advantage.
On Tuesday, Kyle Barraclough struggled in the eighth and AJ. Ramos allowed the winning run in the ninth. On Wednesday, Jarlin Garcia yielded two runs, including the eventual game-winner, in the sixth and Junichi Tazawa allowed St. Louis an insurance run in the seventh.
It added up to the Marlins' 12th loss in 15 games.
Lineup shakeups haven't worked. Mattingly getting kicked out of games hasn't worked. Even the occasional offensive outburst one day turns into an unremarkable performance the next.
Giancarlo Stanton failed to capitalize on multiple chances to put the Marlins ahead. In the sixth with the bases loaded, he sent a bouncer back to the mound to end the inning. In the ninth with two on and none out _ representing the potential walk-off run _ Stanton grounded out to shortstop for a double play.
Righty Tom Koehler lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits. He struck out five batters _ including the first four he faced _ and walked a pair. The Cardinals scored thrice in the third, two on Jeff Gyorko's single to right and one on Yadier Molina's single to center.
The Marlins made Cardinals starter Lance Lynn, as hot as any pitcher in baseball over the first month-plus of the season, work hard, throwing 104 pitches over four innings. He allowed five hits and four walks, but settled in after a four-run first.
With two outs in the first, Yelich homered, 442 feet _ his longest of the year _ into the bushes beyond the center-field wall. Three batters later, after Marcell Ozuna walked and Stanton singled on a line drive to left, Bour planted a three-run home run in the upper deck in right field.
Those four runs doubled Lynn's total from his previous four starts (two).
Dee Gordon, playing shortstop for the first time since September 2013 as a result of a rash of injuries to the Miami infield, made all of his routine plays.
