The Florida Marlins continued their June woes on Tuesday night when they dropped the second game of their series against the Cardinals, 5-2. The Fish are now in last place in the NL East and after an ugly month in interleague, things haven't got much better with their return to the senior circuit. Heath Bell blew a four-run lead on Monday in a crushing extra-innings loss but on Tuesday night the Cardinals did all their damage early. St. Louis scored five runs in the first inning off Carlos Zambrano -- they would not score again but that's all they would need as the Miami lineup was silent against Kyle Lohse.
Zambrano went 7.2 innings and did not end up being credited with a single run, as two first-inning errors resulted in all five runs being designated as unearned. The first error was a throwing misfire by Zambrano and the second was a costly mishap by Jose Reyes. A three-run homer from Yadier Molina sealed the five-run rally and the Cards never looked back.
Miami scored just two off Lohse and never really threatened after the disastrous first inning. Giancarlo Stanton hammered his 17th homer of the year but there were few other highlights. The Marlins will try to avoid the sweep on Wednesday with Anibal Sanchez on the mound.
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