The winless Miami Marlins, who are off to the worst start in the 33-year history of the franchise, dropped their ninth consecutive game on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Steve Matz and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Iván Herrera and Brendan Donovan each had two hits for St. Louis. Jordan Walker contributed an RBI double.
Matz (2-0) surrendered four hits in five scoreless innings. Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth for his third save.
Miami’s Trevor Rogers (0-1) was charged with three runs, two earned, and five hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked three.
The 0-9 Marlins are the only winless team in baseball. The New York Mets, who dropped their first seven games, beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 on Thursday for their first win.
Baltimore holds the big league record with 21 losses to start the 1988 season.
Miami has lost 10 consecutive games dating to last season. It has dropped 13 of its last 16 at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the fourth. After Herrera singled and Nolan Gorman walked, Walker doubled down the left-field line. Walker was called out at second, but the call was overturned after it was challenged by St. Louis.
Gorman was thrown out at home on a grounder to third, but Walker scored on an errant pickoff throw to first by Rogers.
St. Louis added a run in the fifth. Herrera singled home Donovan, who led off with a double.
Miami scored in the eighth against Andrew Kittredge. Luis Arraez doubled and scored on a single by Josh Bell, who had two hits.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: RHP Eury Pérez will undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday. He has been transferred to the 60-day IL.
Cardinals: C Willson Contreras (left hand) was scratched as the designed hitter 45 minutes before the game as a precautionary measure. He did not play in Thursday’s home opener. He was hit by a pitch Wednesday at San Diego.
UP NEXT
Marlins: RHP Max Meyer (0-0, 3.60 ERA) will make his second start of the season on Sunday. It also is his fourth career major league start.
Cardinals: RHP Kyle Gibson (1-0, 2.57 ERA) starts the series finale for St. Louis.