The Cardinals’ bullpen went to work early on Tuesday night, but it was less so because of John Gant‘s performance, and more so because the Marlins just hung in there during every-at bat.

Nevertheless, the offense did just enough, coming back from a 2-0 deficit, and the defense was solid as the Cardinals came back and beat Miami 4-2.

Gant pitched four solid innings in his first regular season start since 2018, allowing only four hits and striking out four, although he did walk three batters. But much like Daniel Ponce de Leon on Monday, the Marlins were resilient in their at-bats, fouling off multiple pitches and making Gant go deep into each inning.

Miami jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when a errant throw by Tyler O’Neill passed by Nolan Arenado and allowed Corey Dickerson to score. O’Neill redeemed himself in the bottom of the fifth when he made a backhanded diving catch that prevented three runs from scoring, and only allowing it to be a sacrifice fly.

With the bases loaded on the top of the sixth, Tommy Edman scored on a passed ball to make it 2-1 Marlins. By the end of the inning, thanks to Paul Goldschmidt and Yadier Molina, the Cardinals would have a 3-2 lead. Dylan Carlson would hit a home run in the top of the ninth to make it 4-2.

And the bullpen did the rest. Ryan Helsley, Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos, Tyler Webb and Alex Reyes all made appearances in the game, and all did their jobs of keeping the Marlins’ bats at bay.

St. Louis improved to 3-2 on the season with the victory, and look to sweep Miami as they face Wednesday at 2:30.