Dietrich Homer, 4 Hits Led Marlins Past Cardinals 11-3
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Derek Dietrich is keeping it simple and getting results.
Batting second in Miami's lineup, Dietrich homered and had four hits to lead the Marlins past the St. Louis Cardinals 11-3 on Wednesday night.
Lewis Brinson launched two solo homers for Miami, the second multihomer game of his career.
Dietrich drove in three runs during his fourth multihit game on the Marlins' nine-game road trip. Miami won its second straight, after snapping a six-game losing streak Tuesday.
"It sounds simple enough, but not getting away from my approach," Dietrich said. "I'm ready to take my best swing every time I swing the bat."
The top three batters in Miami's order — Starlin Castro, Dietrich and J.T. Realmuto — combined for 11 hits, seven runs and four RBIs as the Marlins set a season high for runs.
"All of the guys are swinging the bat well the last few days, so all in all I think it's a collective effort," Dietrich said. "I feed off of Starlin, I think J.T.'s feeding off of me and then you go down the lineup, so it just helps when everybody is having quality at-bats."
St. Louis shortstop Yairo Munoz committed three errors, leading to three Marlins runs. Munoz has made six errors in his last five games.
"One of those probably could've not been ruled an error, another was a weird hop that hit something funny and got on top of him, and one bad throw," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He needs to let that one go and get back in there. He's been playing well for us."
Miami starter Wei-Yin Chen needed 91 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings, failing to last at least five for the sixth time. Drew Ruchinski (1-0) gave up one run in 2 1/3 innings of relief for his first major league win.
Dietrich's two-run homer sparked a three-run third for the Marlins. Dietrich, who scored twice, has at least one hit in 13 of his last 15 games.
"He's been swinging the bat good, feeling good about himself, so confidence does wonders in this game," Miami manager Don Mattingly said.
Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (2-2) lasted five innings for the second consecutive start. Four of the six runs Flaherty allowed were earned.
St. Louis infielder Jedd Gyorko finished the game on the mound, the first time the six-year veteran had pitched in the majors. Gyorko gave up a run, two hits and hit a batter with a pitch. The run came in the form of Brinson's homer.
"I hate facing position players. I hate it," Brinson said. "In the minor leagues, I would face them sometimes and I would either strike out or pop out and it gets in my head too much. I'm glad I got a good swing off of him tonight."
Jose Martinez drove in two runs as part of a 3-for-3 night for St. Louis. He also walked.
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