“We obviously needed the win, but it’s not at that cost,” Marlins reliever David Phelps said. “Hopefully, it’s nothing, but you never like to see a starter come out of the game when you’re strapped for starters to begin with.”

Rea, acquired in a trade with San Diego, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four.

“I kind of felt something in my elbow and it gradually got worse throughout the game,” Rea said. “I don’t know if I could have thrown another pitch, but we’ll see. We don’t know anything yet.”

Rea initially felt a pain in his arm during warm-ups before the game, but tried to pitch through it.

“This definitely isn’t at a good time getting to a new team and you kind of feel like you let your teammates down a little bit,” Rea said. “It’s tough, but I guess it’s just part of it.”

Phelps (5-5) relieved Rea and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out four, to earn the victory.

“I knew what kind of shape we were in the bullpen and I didn’t want to have guys throw that didn’t need to throw so I was going to try to eat up as much as I could,” Phelps said.

Christian Yelich and Jeff Mathis each had three hits and drove in two runs to help lead the Marlins’ offensive attack.

Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run home run and Martin Prado had a two-run double for the Marlins. They drew even with the Cardinals at 56-48 for the second NL wild-card spot.

“‘O’ puts us up by four early and then we were able to add on, which is nice because they have a dangerous club that can put some runs on the board quick,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We’ve seen that over the last couple of days.”

Miami outfielder Ichiro Suzuki remained at 2,998 hits, going 0 for 2 after entering as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning. He’s 2 for 16 on the homestand that concludes Sunday.

Mattingly was not sure if Suzuki would be in the starting lineup on Sunday or if he would go with his regular starting outfield.

“I haven’t put a lineup out and haven’t really thought it too much, but our (regular) guys are swinging the bat good,” Mattingly said.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a double in the fourth inning. Molina is hitting .385 (20 for 52) with two home runs and four RBIs during the span.

St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia (7-8) also only lasted 3 1/3 innings in his first career start on only three days rest. He allowed six runs and seven hits.

“I really didn’t spend time thinking about (the short rest),” Garcia said. “No excuse. I didn’t execute pitches the way I wanted to. I made mistakes in the middle of the plate against a really good lineup and paid the consequences.”

The Marlins scored four runs in the first, sparked by Ozuna’s two-run homer – his 19th.

“We’re down four runs in the first,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “I don’t think overall ugliness is the proper description.

Miami also plated four in the fourth keyed by a two-run double by Prado to push its lead to 8-0. Prado is hitting .472 (17 for 36) with two home runs and 11 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Florida added three runs in the sixth.

“It didn’t go the way we wanted from the beginning and then it was just a matter of trying to survive,” Matheny said.