ST. LOUIS (AP) – John Lackey was dominant into the ninth inning and gave the St. Louis Cardinals an unexpected bonus with two hits and an RBI in a 6-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.
Mark Reynolds’ three-run home run in the sixth put the Cardinals ahead by four and Randal Grichuk hit his 15th homer in the first. Rookie Stephen Piscotty had three hits and scored twice, helping the Cardinals win their eighth out of 10.
Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 and now has 4,193 career hits between the major leagues and Japan, surpassing Ty Cobb’s total that ranks second in history.
Lackey (10-7) allowed two runs on nine hits in 8 1-3 innings to reach double figures in victories for the 12th time in 13 seasons _ the exception being 2012, which was lost to injury. He has been especially good at home, going 8-3 with a 1.91 ERA.
Brad Hand (2-3) allowed six runs on 11 hits in six innings.
