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MIAMI — The opening act of the three-act play between the Cardinals and Miami Marlins was both breathtaking and nerve-rattling at times. Suspense overflowed. Just when it looked like Masyn Winn had provided the most jaw-dropping moment of the night with his bat, Dylan Carlson topped it with his arm.

Winn’s two-run home run in the top of the 12th inning provided the winning run as the Cardinals bounced back after letting a three-run lead slip away in the eighth inning to set the stage for extra inning.

The bullpen, which has been the most reliable unit of the ballclub so far this season, tightened up late without closer Ryan Helsley available and held on for a 7-6 win in the first game of a three-game series on Monday night. Relievers Ryan Fernandez (no runs) and Andrew Kittredge (two unearned runs) pitched two innings apiece to close out the game.

Carlson played a huge part in the bullpen getting the game to finish line with a nearly perfect throw from right field to home plate in time to cut down Nick Gordon’s attempt to tag up and score the tying run from third base in the 12th inning.

The hard-fought win moved the Cardinals (36-35) above .500 for the first time since they beat the Marlins at Busch Stadium to improve to 5-4 on April 6. The victory also gave Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol his 200th career win.

“We played good defense,� Marmol said. “Carlson throw was on the money. Strong throw. Right through the heart of the plate. Pages with the tag. (Michael Siani) running back on a ball earlier in that game that easily could have been a leadoff double. Overall, I felt like we were in the right spots and defense did a nice job.�

The game went into extra innings tied 4-4, and each team scored the automatic runner in the 11th inning to send the game to another frame.

With Pedro Pages on third base and one out after a sacrifice bunt by Siani (1 for 3, home run) in the 12th, Winn came to the plate to face Marlins left-handed reliever A.J. Puk.

Winn fouled off the first four pitches from puck, a sweeper followed by three consecutive fastballs, then Puk went back to the sweeper with an 0-2 count. The pitch came in in the bottom third of the zone but near the heart of the plate, and Winn sent it to left field like a rocket for his fourth home run of the season.

“I was trying to really just get something in the air,� Winn said of the at-bat. “He threw me a couple pitches I could have drove in the air, and I just missed them. Then he just ended up hanging a slider. That was really my approach, just trying to get a sac fly, get something to the outfield.�

Winn’s blast left the bat with an exit velocity of 103.9 mph and traveled an estimated 386 feet. As Winn approached first base, he flipped his bat high in the air as the visiting dugout erupted as did a loud contingent of Cardinals followers dressed in red behind the dugout.

Winn admitted he was swinging for a home run in his previous at-bat in the ninth inning after Marlins slugger Bryan De La Cruz hit a game-tying three-run homer in the eighth.

“I struck out against Tanner Scott,� Winn said. “I really wanted to hit one off of him and pimp it, just because De La Cruz definitely pimped his off of JoJo (Romero). I was wanting to get some redemption for him. It came one at-bat later, but nonetheless it came.

“I wanted to make sure it got out before I threw (the bat) though.�

That two-run advantage still almost wasn’t enough. Kittredge, who pitched the final two innings and earned the win, gave up an RBI triple to Gordon with the automatic runner on base and no outs. In the blink of an eye, the Marlins were within a run with the tying run on third base and multiple chances to get that runner in safely.

Gordon’s triple had initially been ruled a double. The ball rolled to the wall in right field and stopped under the padding. Carlson raised his arms to signal the ball was stuck under the wall, and the umpired called the play dead and sent Gordon to second base. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker argued, and the umpires placed Gordon on third base upon review.

“I’m not sure how I’m supposed to play that,� Carlson said. “That ball is under the fence. I’m not going to go under the fence and try to throw out a runner. That rule needs to be a little more clear in my opinion. Hopefully, we can get a better answer on that. I’m not sure how that gets overturned there.�

The next batter, Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson, hit a drive to Carlson in right field that looked like it might score the tying run.

Carlson got roughly two steps to line up the ball and put his momentum behind the throw to the plate. The throw went to the catcher Pages in the air and took Pages right into the tag, which he made near the outer edge of the batter’s box near on the third base side of the plate.

“Runner on third, no outs, down by one, you’ve got to always assume they’re going to be aggressive and be ready to come up throwing,� Carlson said. “Where we were positioned, I was in a spot where we were on the edge where you think you can throw someone out.

“Tim Anderson kind of hit the perfect ball right there to me. I was just able to come up, get behind it. Pedro was able to stick the tag. I’m glad it worked out for us.�

Just like that, the Cardinals had two outs and the bases empty with one out separating them from a win.

Kittredge got Otto Lopez to hit a grounder to third baseman Nolan Arenado to end the game. That put a final touch on a win that started with the longest outing of the season for the Cardinals ace pitcher Sonny Gray.

Gray pitched 7 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out four. The second run charged to him scored after the left the game in the hands of the bullpen.

“I think if you look at it as a matchup thing, I knew they were going to swing early and they probably knew I was going to try to attack the zone early,� Gray said. “We made some really good defensive plays early, got some really good double plays.

“I don’t know how many times I got to two strikes, but it couldn’t have been a lot. I was just taking on the mindset of I’m going to attack the middle part of the plate early. They’re going to swing early. I knew that. Let’s just see who wins.�

The Cardinals took the lead in the top of the eighth inning on Ivan Herrera’s two-run, two-out triple to right field (originally ruled a single and an error). That broke a 1-1 tie, and Herrera scored on a Brendan Donovan single and made it a three-run inning.

The inning included three hits, two walks, two wild pitches and eight men taking their turn at the plate.

Gray faced the minimum number of batters through five innings, thanks in part to a pair of double plays by Winn in the first and third innings as well as a runner caught stealing by Pages in the fourth.

Gray made it through seven innings on 71 pitches, though he gave up a line-drive double in the seventh inning to strand a runner on third base.

Gray struck out the first batter of the eighth, walked the next batter, and then got an out on a hard-hit line drive snagged by Winn.

With a man on and one out, stalwart reliever Romero took over. Romero walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. to bring the tying run to the plate. Then De La Cruz blasted a three-run home run into the center field stands and tied the score 4-4. That set the stage for extra innings.

“My mindset from probably the fourth inning on was that I was going to finish the game,� Gray said. “That’s kind of the (modus operandi) I was taking when I went out there every inning was like, 'Attack these dudes. If you continue to attack, you’re going to finish this game.'

“It didn’t end up playing out like that, but we ended up winning the game. That’s a big win. It gets us a game over .500. We’ve fought to get back there and now to get over it. Now, it’s just continuing to push forward and not be content with it.�