ST. LOUIS _ It took a bunt single by an unlikely source to get the Miami Marlins' going after more than a game stuck in neutral.
Back-up catcher Jeff Mathis caught the Cardinals completely by surprise, and it was hard to blame them. The bunt, perfectly placed to the left side, drove in the first run and provided the wake-up call in a series-clinching 6-3 victory on a sizzling Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Giancarlo Stanton, who scored on Mathis' bunt, hit two laser-like doubles, the second driving in the go-ahead run in the seventh off reliever Jonathan Broxton. Christian Yelich had two hits, including a two-run single, and scored on Stanton's second scorcher.
In addition, Ichiro Suzuki had three hits to move to within six of 3,000. He nearly had another on an apparent infield single but the safe call was overturned on a challenge by the Cardinals.
The two-run rally in the seventh picked up starter Adam Conley, who earlier had a two-run lead and the Cardinals in the palm of his hand.
He lost control of both when in short order he threw a wild pitch to gift St. Louis one run and a leadoff walk the next inning to set up another.
Aledmys Diaz would score the tying run all the way from first on a throwing error by Adeiny Hechavarria on a chopper by Matt Holliday. Hechavarria, charging from shortstop, got off an awkward throw that got past Don Kelly at first and rolled far enough for Diaz to scamper home.
That ended the day for Conley that seemed destined for a better personal result. The left-hander gave up three runs (two earned) and three hits in 5 1/3 innings while tying his career high with nine strikeouts.
The only ball hit well off him was Holliday's opposite-field homer in the second inning.
Conley appeared to be rolling after he struck out the first two batters in the fifth. But he walked Alberto Rosario on a full count, and Greg Garcia hit a blooper the other way that fell for a double near the left-field line.
Rosario scored on the wild pitch before Conley got an inning-ending strikeout.
Conley and the bullpen combined for 16 strikeouts, a season-high for the Marlins.
Earlier, Mathis stunned the Cardinals with his sleight of hand with the bat. The two-out bunt was worth a try to break the spell after 12 innings without a run for the Marlins, who were shut out on three hits Saturday by Adam Wainwright.
It scored Stanton, who doubled on a low liner that got to the left-field corner in the blink of an eye _ Statcast had it at 116 mph off the bat. He reached third on an infield single by Derek Dietrich off Wacha's leg.
The Marlins didn't put much of a dent in Wacha otherwise, but they did succeed in driving up his pitch count early.
They took their first lead since Friday in the fifth when Yelich's grounder up the middle was just out of reach of Diaz for a two-run single.
It ended Wacha's outing after 101 pitches without retiring a batter in the fifth. It followed a walk to Ichiro and Martin Prado's ground-rule double over the head of center fielder Tommy Pham, who didn't read it well.
Ichiro wasted no time in collecting hit No. 2,992 on the fifth pitch of the game, a single to center.
He briefly had No. 2,993 in his grasp on an infield single to shortstop in the third, but it was overturned. He got it for real in the sixth when he sliced a double near the line in left and added No. 2,994 on a grounder to the hole at short in the eighth.
