Cardinals top Marlins 6-1 on Heyward, Wong homers

MIAMI -- Jaime Garcia made a mistake against Giancarlo Stanton, and later took a misstep on his way to scoring.

Otherwise, he and the St. Louis Cardinals rolled again.

Jason Heyward homered for the third consecutive game, Kolten Wong added a two-run shot and the Cardinals topped the Miami Marlins 6-1 on Wednesday night -- improving baseball's best record to 47-24.

"Jaime's been pitching his butt off for us," Wong said. "It's good to repay him."

Heyward hit a three-run homer, his ninth of the season, in the seventh to blow the game open. The Cardinals had just one hit in the first six innings against Miami starter Mat Latos (2-5), that hit being Wong's ninth home run in the third.

Garcia (3-3) allowed one run -- the Stanton homer, his major league-leading 27th -- in seven innings for the Cardinals, lowering his ERA to 1.69.

Garcia singled and eventually scored in the eighth, but grimaced and began to limp shortly before crossing the plate. He came out of the game, but afterward Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said it was merely because of a cramp and didn't believe there was reason for concern.

"He was terrific," Matheny said. "Gave up a couple hard-hit balls, one to Stanton, but he really limited the damage."

Stanton had three hits in four at-bats -- all leading off innings, something the Marlins absolutely don't want.

"At the end of the day we're still getting seven to 10 hits," Stanton said. "It's a matter of how important they are."

Latos threw seven innings, giving up three hits and two walks -- with all five of those runners scoring, and all earned.

St. Louis' only hit in the first six innings came in the third, Wong's homer off the facade on the upper deck in right. That gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead, and it stayed that way into the seventh.

Jhonny Peralta led off with a single and Mark Reynolds then took a four-pitch walk. Two pitches later, Latos left a fastball up and Heyward sent it over the wall in right for a 5-1 lead.

"The minute I make a mistake, boom, it gets hit," Latos said. "That's what they're supposed to do. Sometimes you get away with stuff like that, but it just seems to be a theme of my season."

Stanton gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the second, hitting his first first-pitch home run of the year in his 301st plate appearance. Garcia's 91-mph offering left in a hurry, a line drive that just kept going until it nestled in the bushes behind the center-field wall that sits 418 feet away from home plate.

But that would be one of the lone hurrahs for the Marlins.

"The goal is always to keep the ball down and keep the ball in the ballpark," Garcia said. "Made a couple mistakes ... but I was able to keep us in the game."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cardinals: 3B Matt Carpenter returned to the lineup after sitting out Tuesday with back stiffness. ... RHP Carlos Martinez had no problems with his pitching shoulder, a good sign after getting plunked with a fastball while batting Tuesday. "It looked bad at the time," Matheny said.

Marlins: RHP Henderson Alvarez (right shoulder inflammation) is long-tossing from 120 feet and is scheduled to throw off a mound Saturday, the same day as the final tuneup for ace RHP Jose Fernandez (right elbow reconstruction) before his return to the Marlins' rotation next week. ... The Marlins plan to activate right-hander Jarred Cosart (vertigo) off the disabled list Thursday and send him to the bullpen. He's never relieved in the majors.

DIFFERENT STICK

Some of the NHL's top draft prospects -- this year's draft starts Friday in nearby Sunrise, Florida, home of the NHL's Panthers -- were at Marlins Park on Wednesday. Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, who will almost certainly be picked No. 1 and No. 2 overall, threw out some of the ceremonial pregame pitches. And forward Lawson Crouse, possibly a top-five selection, homered in batting practice. "I know he can hit the crap out of a hockey puck," Marlins third-base coach Lenny Harris said.

WONG'S HOMERS

The Cardinals lost the games in which Wong hit his first two big-league home runs. They're 18-3 when he homers since.

UP NEXT

RHP Lance Lynn (4-4, 3.07) goes for the Cardinals in the series finale on Thursday against Miami RHP Dan Haren (6-4, 3.19). Lynn is 3-0 all-time against the Marlins, and Haren hasn't gotten a single run of support in either of his last two outings.