Martinez beats Rockies while 'pitching with a lot of confidence'
Inconsistency issues keep looking more and more like a thing of the past for Carlos Martinez.
The young right-hander has been the Cardinals' most reliably effective starting pitcher over the past month, even in the thin, hitter-friendly air of Coors Field. A home run that wouldn't have carried over the wall in most other ballparks ended as the only blemish on Martinez's line in a 4-2 St. Louis win Wednesday afternoon.
"He's pitching with a lot of confidence right now, and rightfully so," manager Mike Matheny told reporters during the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest. "(The home run) was a pretty good pitch. I didn't (think it was going out), but we're in Colorado."
His previous four starts yielded just one run in 27 1/3 innings to go with at least eight strikeouts each outing. Martinez struck out just four against a potent Rockies lineup, but an impressive ability to work out of trouble led to his seventh win of the season.
Colorado went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against the 23-year-old, who leads the National League with a .145 average against him in those situations. D.J. LeMathieu got stranded after a one-out double in the first, Carlos Gonzalez never moved up from second after a leadoff double in the fourth, and Martinez got some defensive help with a pair of double plays in the fifth and sixth.
"He's got that heavy sinker, it can get a lot of groundballs and get some double plays for him," third baseman Matt Carpenter told Jim Hayes during the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest. "Plus, he can strike out a hitter at will. He's got good stuff, and when he's locating he's tough to hit."
Martinez even jump-started a lethargic offense with the Cardinals' first hit of the game on a two-out single in the third. He eventually came around to score to give St. Louis a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
3 UP
• Carpenter breaks out. A critical two-out single put the Cardinals ahead 1-0 in the third, and Carpenter added another single in the fifth inning, when he came around to score on first baseman Mark Reynolds' double. Carpenter came into the game batting 3 for 25 in June with 10 strikeouts, including four in four at-bats Tuesday.
"This is a game that will humble you day to day and you've got another opportunity to do something special," Carpenter said on the postgame show. "The game finds you. First time we get a chance to drive in a run, I'm standing at the plate."
• Good baserunning. Carpenter, second baseman Kolten Wong and right fielder Jason Heyward all did their part to end St. Louis' recent trend of outs on the basepaths.
Wong never stopped as he ran from first to third on Carpenter's single, which may have caused left fielder Brandon Barnes to commit an error that allowed Carpenter to alertly move up to second with two outs. It paid off when Wong scored on a passed ball before Reynolds grounded out to end the inning.
Heyward made a heads-up play to get to second base on a wild pitch to Peter Bourjos, even though both would be stranded on base when Martinez struck out following Bourjos' third walk in the last two days.
• Grichuk, Heyward show power. More power from outfielders Heyward and Randal Grichuk would be a great way for the Cardinals to get some more run production with Matt Holliday on the disabled list. Grichuk hit his third home run of the season on an opposite-field blast to right field in the eighth inning for just his seventh hit in his last 37 at-bats. Heyward doubled down the left-field line two batters later for his first extra-base hit in 34 at-bats.
3 DOWN
• Missed opportunities. Even though the Cardinals scored four runs for the first time in three games at Colorado, they could have done a lot more. After Carpenter's key single, St. Louis went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
• Leadoff man issues. The Rockies got their leadoff man on base in their last four innings against Martinez. Unlike in the first two games of the series, though, they couldn't convert their opportunities.
• Striking out. St. Louis hitters took the thin air and big gaps of Coors Field out of the equation too often with 30 strikeouts in three games at Coors Field, capped off by nine in the series finale.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
