Meyer Dominates, Marlins Shut Out Cardinals 4-0 in St. Louis
Max Meyer threw 7.0 innings of two-hit, zero-run ball with 5 strikeouts, and the Miami Marlins did the rest in a 4-0 shutout of St. Louis on June 27. The Cardinals, who just elevated Bill DeWitt III to chief executive officer this week, couldn't have scripted a worse on-field welcome to the new regime.
For seven innings, this game looked like it might stay scoreless — and that would have been a story in itself. Meyer was untouchable, holding St. Louis to 2 hits and 2 walks across 7.0 innings while Michael McGreevy matched zeros for the Cardinals, going 6.0 innings and allowing 5 hits without surrendering a run. Two pitchers doing their jobs, a game waiting to break open. It broke open in the eighth.
Graham Pauley doubled to right, scoring Esteury Ruiz, and just like that the win probability swung from 45% to 19% for St. Louis — a 26-point collapse on a single swing. That was the moment the Cardinals' night ended, even if the scoreboard hadn't fully caught up yet. On the very next play, Kyle Stowers grounded out to first, but Pauley scored and the Marlins successfully challenged the call — the ruling on the field was overturned, making it 2-0 Miami. St. Louis couldn't buy a break. Ruiz, who finished 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored, was everywhere in that eighth inning, and it appears his ability to get on base and manufacture pressure was the engine that cracked this game open.
Miami wasn't done. In the ninth, Jakob Marsee singled to center, scoring two more runs to push the final to 4-0. Marsee finished 1-for-5 with 2 RBI — quiet most of the night, then decisive when it mattered. Michael Petersen and Calvin Faucher each threw a clean inning of relief behind Meyer, combining for 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, and 2 strikeouts to seal the shutout. The story of the night was Miami's pitching staff operating as a complete unit: 9 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 7 strikeouts total. For a Cardinals organization navigating front-office changes off the field, this was a rough way to spend a Saturday — blanked at home without ever seriously threatening to score.