St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - Dan Uggla singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning and the Florida Marlins went on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Mike Jacobs belted a solo home run in the ninth to send the game into extra innings, and Cody Ross also drove in a run for Florida, which won consecutive games for the first time since July 30-31.

Arthur Rhodes (2-0) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless 10th. Florida starter Ricky Nolasco gave up one run on six hits in seven strong innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.

Albert Pujols doubled twice for the Cardinals, who have dropped six of their last seven games and find themselves six games back of Milwaukee in the NL Wild Card standings. The Brewers topped the Padres, 3-2, in 11 innings on Friday.

Ryan Franklin (5-6) absorbed the loss after he yielded two runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief. St. Louis starter Braden Looper threw 7 1/3 scoreless frames, scattering four hits and fanning six.

Chris Perez came on in the ninth to protect a 1-0 lead for St. Louis, but served up a one-out blast that just cleared the wall in right-center to Jacobs, his 29th home run of the season. It marked the 30th blown save of the season by the Cardinals bullpen, worst in the majors.

"Obviously he (Perez) throws hard," Jacobs said. "Luckily one of the pitches was supposed to be down and away and it got a part of the plate and luckily I got a hold of it. It was a good team effort and a good win for us."

Franklin, who tossed a 1-2-3 10th, started the 11th for the Cardinals. Hanley Ramirez singled to open the frame and John Baker laid down a perfect bunt that hugged the third base line for an infield hit. One out later, Ron Villone entered from the St. Louis bullpen and got Paul Lo Duca to pop out to Albert Pujols in foul ground.

Jason Motte then relieved Villone and Uggla hit a sharp grounder through the left side of the infield to send Ramirez home with the go-ahead run. Ross widened the lead for Florida with an RBI single to right. On the play, Felipe Lopez mishandled the ball, allowing another run to score.

Matt Lindstrom retired the side in the bottom half to notch his first career save.

The clubs were locked up in a scoreless duel until the bottom of the seventh, when the Cardinals scratched out a run on a leadoff double by Pujols and a two-out single by Adam Kennedy.

Game Notes

Nolasco is 2-0 over his last five outings. He has fanned 38 batters in that span, while walking just three...The Marlins left six men on base, while the Cardinals stranded five...Cardinals pitcher Jason Isringhausen, currently on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain, will undergo season-ending surgery next week.