Cardinals, on a roll, take on winless Marlins

The St. Louis Cardinals invested $99 million in free-agent pitchers during the offseason to add a veteran presence on the mound.

The revamped rotation has helped the Cardinals win four of their past five games, and right-hander Kyle Gibson (1-0, 2.57 ERA) will try to sustain that roll when he faces the Miami Marlins to close a three-game series in St. Louis.

The Cardinals are going for a sweep after winning the first two games, 8-5 and 3-1. The Marlins are still looking for their first victory of the season after nine losses.

Gibson, 36, struggled in his first spring training after signing with the Cardinals. He allowed five homers and posted a 7.80 ERA.

But he settled in nicely during his first regular-season start to earn a 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres last Monday. Gibson allowed four hits, including two solo homers. He struck out four and walked two.

"What (Gibson) did here against a really good lineup that has put up some big runs -- that's tough," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "This is a guy who has been around awhile, just is very comfortable in his own skin and knows who he is. He knows what gives him success, and when you hand him the baseball, he's going to go out and do his job. He's as pro as they get."

Gibson takes pride in keeping an even keel.

"I'm just not going to give one inning away," he said. "Worry is something in my mind that is similar to fear. You can't go out there pitching worried about this, pitching fearful about that. There's enough going on already. It's literally not worth it."

Gibson is 2-3 with a 5.05 ERA in eight career starts against the Marlins.

The Cardinals got leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan back in the lineup Saturday, but catcher Willson Contreras remained sidelined. Both players suffered contusions after being hit by pitches Wednesday.

The Marlins will start Max Meyer (0-0, 3.60 ERA) on Sunday. He worked five innings in his first start, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks in a game Miami lost 7-4 to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.

Miami manager Skip Schumaker wants to ease Meyer back from Tommy John surgery, but injuries to four established starting pitchers has forced him to deploy Meyer in the rotation early this season.

"It's going to be a difficult decision, but also the reality is he's not going to continue to make every start every fifth day," Schumaker said. "It's just not fair to him. But he's doing exactly what he wants to do and showcase his stuff and to show us that he's a major league starter, which we all thought he was."

Meyer struck out four and made 79 pitches in the third big league appearance of his career. That was Meyer's first regular-season game since July 23, 2022.

"I feel great," he said. "Everything felt good. First time out there I wasn't that nervous, I don't think. I was able to make some pitches and feel good. Felt good throughout, and obviously not the result we want, but something to build off of."

This will be Meyer's first career outing against the Cardinals.