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Drama-filled Marlins take act on road to face Cardinals

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05/19/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With or without All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez, the Florida Marlins will continue to move forward and stay positive. They hope to keep that trend going tonight in the opener of a two-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Ramirez was benched after the second inning in Monday's 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks for what manager Fredi Gonzalez described as a lack of effort. Ramirez fouled a ball off his lower left leg in the first inning of the four-run loss, then failed to run hard after a ball in the second inning. With runners on first and second, Arizona's Tony Abreu hit a blooper to left that fell between Ramirez and a charging Chris Coghlan. As he bent over to pick up the ball, Ramirez inadvertently kicked it into the left field corner and proceeded to nonchalantly run after it, allowing two runners to score.

The young star was benched again in yesterday's 8-0 victory over the D'Backs and had some discouraging words for his manager.

"I wasn't trying to give up," Ramirez said. "That was the hardest I could go after the ball. It's OK. He doesn't understand that. He never played in the big leagues. That's fine. That's the example that he set. It started with me. Let's see how far it goes."

Second baseman Dan Uggla said he loves his teammate, but also supports what Gonzalez did. Uggla and the Marlins moved on with Tuesday's rout of Arizona, but the status of Ramirez for this series in the Gateway City is unknown until he addresses his teammates and offers an apology. Florida starter Josh Johnson improved to 4-1 with seven shutout innings and nine strikeouts, scattering two hits with a pair of walks. Johnson was appreciative of the all-out effort.

"Those are the best wins, when everybody gets involved, and everybody is doing their part," Johnson said after the Marlins moved into second place in the NL East -- four games behind Philadelphia. "It was a great team win. That's one you can start building on."

Cameron Maybin hit a three-run homer and Uggla also went deep during a decisive five-run sixth inning. Jorge Cantu finished with three hits for the Marlins, who have won seven of their last nine games. Florida will also visit the Chicago White Sox for three games over the weekend.

Taking the ball for the Fish tonight will be Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez is 2-1 with a 2.67 earned run average in his last five starts and defeated the New York Mets the previous time out last Friday. In the 7-2 victory at home, Sanchez held the NL East rivals to a pair of runs in seven innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.

The right-hander evened his mark at 2-2 in seven starts and lowered his ERA from 4.08 to 3.83. Sanchez faced St. Louis for the first time in a 4-2 setback on August 11, 2008 and was dealt the loss. He allowed three runs, six hits and fanned eight batters through seven innings of work.

St. Louis will try to stay unbeaten on its current homestand and just swept the Washington Nationals in a quick two-game set. In Wednesday's 3-2 victory over the Nats, Ryan Ludwick put the Cards in front for good with a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Felipe Lopez belted a two-run homer in the third inning and staff ace Chris Carpenter pushed his mark to 5-1 with eight stellar innings. The righty limited Washington to two runs, one earned, with five K's and no walks, and threw 118 pitches -- the most since the 2006 campaign.

"I felt fine," Carpenter told the team's site. "I worked hard all night long. It had nothing to do with the hundred and whatever pitches I threw. I felt like I worked hard all night. From the get-go, it was, 'OK, we're going to have to work and make quality pitches and really put 100 percent effort into focusing and concentration,' and all that other stuff."

The Cardinals will also host the LA Angels of Anaheim for three games on their current homestand. They'll send Jaime Garcia to the mound Wednesday and he is 3-1 with a 1.42 earned run average in his last four starts. The lefty lost at Pittsburgh on May 8, hurling six innings of one-run ball in a 2-0 defeat, but rebounded in last Friday's 4-3 road victory over Cincinnati.

Garcia allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 frames against the Reds to improve to 4-2 in seven starts this season. He has never faced the Marlins.

St. Louis and Florida split six matchups a season ago. The Cardinals have won seven of the past 11 meetings between the clubs.