Rookie Dakota Hudson allowed one run in a career-high seven innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals handed the Miami Marlins their sixth consecutive defeat Tuesday night, 7-1.
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina returned after missing 11 games because of a strained right thumb and went 2 for 5 with a single and double.
Marcell Ozuna punctuated the victory with a ninth-inning homer, his 18th. He has a career average of .452 (14 for 31) against his former team.
Hudson (5-3) gave up four hits, struck out six and retired 10 in a row during one stretch for the Cardinals, who have won his past five starts.
The right-hander has the highest groundball rate in the majors, and 12 of his 21 outs came on grounders. He hasn’t given up a homer in 47 innings.
Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (4-6, 4.54) is scheduled to start the series finale Wednesday when the Cardinals try for a sweep