Nathan Church slugged a two-run homer and Alec Burleson also drove in a pair of runs as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Tuesday.

St. Louis, which has won six of its past seven games, also got 5 1/3 strong innings from Dustin May (3-2). He allowed one run on six hits and one walk while striking out five.

Riley O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his seventh save.

However, Cardinals star Jordan Walker had his 15-game hitting streak broken. The stretch ended two games short of his career high, set as a rookie in 2023.

Miami was led by Jakob Marsee, who finished 3-for-4 and homered on his first swing with a new bat. On the previous pitch, the bat slipped out of Marsee’s hands and landed in the netting. That bat was given to a fan, and Marsee went deep for the first time this season the new lumber.

Marlins starter Chris Paddack (0-4) gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. He fanned seven. His ERA rose to 6.38 as Miami had its modest two-game win streak snapped.

Both teams scored in the first inning.

St. Louis got a run on rookie JJ Wetherholt’s leadoff double and Burleson’s RBI single.

Miami tied the score on Marsee’s 351-foot leadoff homer, pulled down the right field line. On the play, Marsee ran hard on his way to a potential triple before the umpires ruled that the ball had cleared the wall.

Wetherholt started another rally in the third when he drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on Ivan Herrera’s single and scored on Burleson’s grounder to first baseman Connor Norby, who threw wildly to the plate for an error.

The Cardinals made it 4-1 in the fourth. Masyn Winn singled, and Church swung at an inside cutter, pulling that pitch for a 370-foot homer to right.

St. Louis kept coming in the fifth, chasing Paddack with a Burleson double and Nolan Gorman’s two-out RBI single for a 5-1 score.

Miami cut its deficit to 5-3 in the eighth as reliever Ryne Stanek walked the bases loaded before allowing Heriberto Hernandez’s two-run single.

George Soriano replaced Stanek and struck out Norby looking on a pitch that caught the corner, low and inside, to end Miami’s best chance at a comeback.

–Field Level Media

Inter Miami passed their first test since the surprise departure of coach Javier Mascherano. As interim coach Guillermo Hoyos would attest, having Lionel Messi at his peak helps.

The Herons complete a two-game trip through the Rocky Mountains when they play Real Salt Lake on Wednesday in Sandy, Utah.

Messi scored on a penalty kick in the 18th minute and set up his own game-winner with a nifty run in the 79th minute of Miami’s 3-2 win over the Colorado Rapids Saturday. The match was played at the Denver Broncos’ stadium before an audience of 75,824 fans.

That was the first outing for Miami (4-1-3, 15 points) since Mascherano announced his resignation, citing “personal reasons,” mere months after he guided the club to the MLS Cup title.

“The best coach in the world is on the pitch,” Hoyos said afterward. “We have the best player in history who changes the course of matches and a team that gave everything football-wise.”

Hoyos was Miami’s sporting director before stepping in for Mascherano. With the Herons now second in the Eastern Conference, it’s his task now to keep the club on a stable path.

“This result means a continuity of what was being done,” Hoyos said.

They’ll have a quick turnaround to face Real Salt Lake (5-1-1, 16 points), who’ve begun a three-game homestand with two-goal wins over Sporting Kansas City and San Diego FC.

Diego Luna scored within the first five minutes of each match and Sergi Solans potted three goals in that span. The high-powered offense was just what RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni wanted to see.

“We have to bring the fans into the game and be electric and front-footed,” Mastroeni said before the San Diego game. “Both (San Diego and Miami) offer opportunities in transition and we’ve improved drastically in that area.”

Neither RSL nor Miami has lost since dropping their respective season openers Feb. 21. They’ve each scored 16 goals on the year, Messi accounting for seven of Miami’s and Solans scoring five for RSL.

Messi’s co-star Luis Suarez could draw back in after not being utilized against Colorado.

Meanwhile, Miami forward Mateo Silvetti (hamstring) participated in practice Monday, per the Miami Herald, and his status for the match is up in the air. The 20-year-old has scored two goals.

–Field Level Media

The visiting Boston Bruins scored three second-period goals and held off a late Buffalo Sabres rally to post a 4-2 win on Tuesday and even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series at one victory apiece.

Viktor Arvidsson scored in the last two periods, giving the Bruins 1-0 and 4-0 leads. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also lit the lamp for Boston, which heads home for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.

Jonathan Aspirot, Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak each dished out two assists for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored as Buffalo climbed within 4-2 in the closing minutes.

Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before Alex Lyon entered in relief following Arvidsson’s second marker, which came just 16 seconds into the third period.

Buffalo had a 36-26 shot advantage, including 20-8 in the third period, but its power play went 0-for-5. Boston finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage.

The physical contest featured 47 penalty minutes for each team.

Following a scoreless opening period, the Bruins took over in the second, scoring on three of their 11 shots against Luukkonen.

Arvidsson broke the deadlock 4:54 into the middle frame, taking Aspirot’s lob pass in ahead of the defense and beating Luukkonen five-hole with a backhander from the left circle.

A gaffe by Luukkonen helped Boston double its lead with 3:31 left in the period, as Geekie’s high backhanded dump from the far side of center ice eluded him over the glove.

The Bruins’ power play got in on the action 1:41 later. After Geekie’s one-handed keep-in at the blue line extended the play, Zacha tipped in Pastrnak’s shot from the top of the right circle while stationed in the bumper position.

Arvidsson made it 4-0 early in the third, prompting Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to change goaltenders. Aspirot banked a long feed off the boards to set up the play, leading Arvidsson down the left wing to score on a 2-on-1 rush with Zacha.

The Sabres struck twice in a 1:14 span to make things interesting. Byram accepted Beck Malenstyn’s back pass for a wrister from the top of the right circle to break Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left.

Krebs soon made it 4-2, batting down and scoring the rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin point shot that caromed off the post and back into the crease.

–Field Level Media