ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki was floored by the consistent, appreciative reception from a packed road crowd, which cheered him every chance it got.

He was touched, too, by actions of St. Louis Cardinals players who gave him plenty of time to gather it in all weekend.

Catcher Yadier Molina set the tone on Friday night when Suzuki was announced as a pinch hitter. Pitcher Adam Wainwright walked away from the rubber before another pinch-hit at-bat on Saturday. And before a rare start as the leadoff man in the series finale Sunday, he got a nice round of applause.

The 42-year-old showed them he has plenty left in the tank, too.

Suzuki doubled, singled twice and had another hit taken away on a replay challenge, leaving him six shy of 3,000 in the Miami Marlins’ 6-3 victory.

“These are three games that I’ll probably never forget,” he said through a translator. “I don’t think I could have experienced something like this unless it was here in St. Louis,” adding of the Cardinals stars, “It was hard to look at them as the enemy.”

Suzuki made just his second start this month with All-Star Marcell Ozuna getting a day off. He’s been largely reduced to pinch hitting behind a set outfield, and singled in that role on Friday.

He’ll be back to a bench role on Monday in Philadelphia, with no complaints.

“I think Ich is taking a lot of pressure off of everyone, just because he talks about playing till he’s 50,” manager Don Mattingly said. “So, he should be able to get, what is it, seven more hits in the next seven years?”

Suzuki also walked, scored a run and came up just short on his bid to beat out an infield hit. All of that in wilting, 93-degree heat for a player who’d been 3 for 11 in July.

“I guess me being close to 3,000, the fans reacted that way and treated me this way, it was just an amazing experience,” Suzuki said.

Giancarlo Stanton’s second double of the game drove in the go-ahead run in a two-run seventh against Jonathan Broxton (1-2).

Christian Yelich had two hits and three RBI and Jeff Mathis bunted home a hit for Miami, which took two of three for just its second series win the last seven years in St. Louis.

Matt Holliday batted cleanup for the first time this season and had three of the Cardinals’ four hits, including his 16th homer. But St. Louis struck out 15 times, including four by Randal Grichuk and three by Tommy Pham.

Kyle Barraclough (5-2) had three strikeouts in 1 2/3 perfect relief innings and A.J. Ramos earned his 29th save in 30 chances. The bullpen worked 3 2/3 scoreless innings after finishing with two spotless frames in a 5-0 loss Saturday.

“Great pitching, great hitting, great defense,” Ramos said. “We’ve been doing that all year, so if we continue that I think we’ll be fine.”

The Marlins have won five of six overall and are seven games above .500, matching their high water mark of the season.

“It’s obviously more fun to play,” Ramos said. “We’re never really out of a game, we keep pushing and pushing.”

Marlins starter Adam Conley matched his career high with nine strikeouts, giving up two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. He didn’t mind the heat, saying he pitched in those conditions “it seemed like every day game in Mobile, Alabama, in the Southern League.”

“I try to put everything on an even playing field,” Conley said. “Nobody out there was comfortable.”

Michael Wacha needed 101 pitches to get 12 outs for St. Louis and gave up three runs on seven hits. Four innings matched his shortest outing of the season.

“They were definitely grinding out some at-bats, for sure,” Wacha said.

UP NEXT

Marlins: Jose Fernandez (11-4, 2.52) works the opener of a four-game series at Philadelphia.

Cardinals: Mike Leake (6-7, 4.14) had a season-high 10 strikeouts his last time out at Milwaukee.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: 1B Justin Bour (ankle) could rejoin the team next weekend.

Cardinals: 1B-OF Brandon Moss (ankle) is making slow progress and is still in a walking boot.

LONG BALL

The Cardinals have homered in eight straight games but are just 4-4 in that stretch.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — No doubt, Adam Wainwright was motivated by a pregame ceremony to honor the 2006 World Series champions.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander got the final out that season as the Cardinals’ stand-in closer — and finished what he started Saturday night by pitching a three-hitter as St. Louis cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina are the only two remaining Cardinals players from the 2006 title team. Former manager Tony La Russa had texted Wainwright jokingly suggesting that the pitcher petition skipper Mike Matheny to work the ninth on Saturday.

“He didn’t know I was starting and when I saw him for the picture, I said, `I’m probably going to ask him once the ninth rolls around if I can keep going,” Wainwright said.

Wainwright had thrown 108 pitches through eight innings and asked Matheny: “Just give me 10 pitches.” Wainwright needed only a dozen to retire the side in order.

Jhonny Peralta homered and Stephen Piscotty had two hits, a walk and two RBI for St. Louis.

Wainwright (9-5) struck out five with two walks and didn’t allow a hit until Adeiny Hechavarria doubled to open the sixth inning. The team’s longtime ace received a standing ovation in the eighth before striking out for the fourth straight time.

The only other time he fanned four times, Wainwright shut out the Rockies on May 11, 2013.

“Usually you get behind and guys want to make something happen and start trying to create things,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “It seemed like he used that aggressiveness against us.”

Wainwright is 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA in three starts this month. The shutout was his first since Sept. 17, 2014, against the Brewers, and his 22nd career complete game.

He missed virtually all of the 2015 season with a ruptured left Achilles and had a 5.71 ERA after the first two months. Now it’s down to 4.15.

“The start I had was a disaster, so it’s cool to be back pitching pretty good again and not the laughingstock of the baseball world anymore,” Wainwright said.

Matt Adams hit an RBI single in a four-run third, following Piscotty’s two-run double and an RBI double by Randal Grichuk.

After blowing two late leads in the series opener Friday night, St. Louis improved to 20-27 at home.

The Cardinals were flawless on defense a night after committing at least three costly miscues, among them their major league-leading 69th error. Matt Holliday, shaky at first base in the opener, didn’t play.

The highlight for Miami was a pair of diving catches by right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, the first robbing Adams of a two-run double to end the first and the second denying Aledmys Diaz a hit in the fourth.

Tom Koehler (6-8) lasted four innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. He’s 1/3 with a 7.84 ERA against St. Louis and has thrown four or fewer innings in three of his last four starts overall.

“Right now, honestly, it seems like when I execute a pitch it seems like it’s getting hit,” Koehler said. “And when I don’t, it seems like it’s really getting hit.”

Miami (48-42) is a game ahead of St. Louis (47-43), with both chasing the second NL wild-card spot. The Marlins dropped back from a season-best seven games above .500.

Ichiro Suzuki grounded out while pinch hitting in the eighth and remained at 2,991 major league hits.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: 1B Justin Bour (ankle) is likely to need a rehab assignment before returning. He was eligible to come off the DL on Saturday.

Cardinals: RHP Jordan Walden (shoulder) has been throwing and will be examined by team doctors early next week. He hasn’t pitched since April 2015.

UP NEXT

Marlins: LHP Adam Conley (6-5, 3.62 ERA) faces the Cardinals for the first time. Left-handed hitters have more success against him, .289 to .223 for right-handed hitters.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (5-7, 4.36) has been on the upswing, going 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA in his last six starts.

— Associated Press —