Looper returns to win columnin 5-3 triumph over Marlins

~ The Cardinals starter earned his first victory since May 24.

MIAMI -- It was a good return to Florida for Braden Looper.

Chris Duncan and Adam Kennedy homered to back Looper, who won for the first time in seven starts as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Marlins 5-3 on Monday night.

Looper (7-7) pitched 6 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and allowing two runs. His last win came May 24, against Pittsburgh.

"It's been a while," Looper said. "It was one of the better games I've pitched this year. I haven't felt like this in a month. For the most part, I was able to stay in the bottom of the zone."

Looper was traded to the Marlins by St. Louis in 1999. He was a member of Florida's 2003 World Series championship team and was making his first appearance at Dolphin Stadium since then.

"You definitely want to win against a team you used to play for," Looper said.

Byung-Hyun Kim (4-5) pitched six-plus innings for Florida, giving up five runs and eight hits. He walked seven and struck out four.

"I had too much time [between starts]," said Kim, whose last start was July 5 at San Diego. "I relaxed too much."

Kennedy's solo home run in the sixth, his second of the year, stretched the Cardinals' lead to 4-2. Kennedy, who hit his first homer of the season Sunday night against Philadelphia, also had a single and double in four at-bats Monday.

"I've been working at getting better at-bats the last couple days," Kennedy said. "It's do-or-die now. A night like this is really big at this time of year."

St. Louis added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Duncan to make it 5-2.

Miguel Cabrera led off the eighth with his 22nd home run, a shot to right field off Ryan Franklin that made it 5-3. It was Cabrera's fourth home run in three games.

Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save.

"He [Looper] did a good job but I wasn't sure how much farther he could go," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "It got a little scary for him in the eighth, but he got the decision and so did we."

St. Louis went ahead 2-0 in the first inning on Duncan's two-run homer that landed just inside the right field foul pole. It was his 18th of the season.

The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Juan Encarnacion walked, stole his first base of the season and scored on Gary Bennett's single to left.

The Marlins tied it at 2-2 in the second. Mike Jacobs led off with a double and Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch. Jeremy Hermida then drove in Jacobs with a single that also sent Willingham to third. Willingham scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Treanor.