Martinez makes strides but bullpen stumbles in 10-4 loss to Tigers
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals' offense garnered most of the attention for a series of amazing comebacks, particularly in the highlight reels.
But a mostly dominant bullpen deserves just as much credit for holding down opposing offenses to make those dramatic rallies possible. Detroit sent St. Louis a harsh reminder of what happens when the relievers falter in a 10-4 loss that featured eight Tigers runs in the final three innings Friday night at Busch Stadium.
"When we did get something going (offensively), then (it was) a little bit of an oddity for us with our bullpen not being able to do what they've been doing," manager Mike Matheny said. "We've made a push toward (getting back into the) game."
Yoenis Cespedes homered and Anthony Gose tripled before scoring the second run against Carlos Martinez, who left after giving up a pair of singles to start the sixth inning. Matt Belisle worked out of that jam with two groundouts, including a double play, to keep Detroit's lead at 2-0.
Jhonny Peralta and Jason Heyward both gave the offense some life with two-run home runs, but it wasn't nearly enough as the St. Louis bullpen allowed more than three runs for the first time all season. Its ERA rose from 1.71 to 2.28, falling just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for second in the National League.
The damage came quickly and almost out of nowhere in the seventh inning against Mitch Harris, who had given up just one earned run over 8 1/3 innings in his first eight appearances. Ian Kinsler drew a two-out walk and Miguel Cabrera crushed a 1-2 pitch over the wall in deep center field before J.D. Martinez hit the highest and shortest home run at Busch this season down the left-field line two pitches later.
"Harris had a pretty good outing, gives up the two-out walk, it ends up (turning) into three runs from two homers," Matheny said. "That's something that (he's) just another young player, he's learning."
Gose's two-out infield single in the eighth inning snapped Miguel Socolovich's scoreless streak at 18 innings, including 12 2/3 at Triple A Memphis. Socolovich gave up three hits after allowing only two in his first five outings for the Cardinals, and he still added two more strikeouts.
Only the Kansas City Royals have a better batting average than the Tigers this season, and Detroit's offense kept rolling in the ninth against typically reliable Seth Maness. He leads the team with 19 appearances and hadn't given up a run in 14 of them before allowing four on five hits to dim the Cardinals' hopes of a fourth walk-off win at home.
"Seth's been so good and we use him a lot and we'll continue to throw him in those good situations," Matheny said. "He'll get big outs for us, no question about it."
Martinez said through a translator it was just one of those nights for a group that got off to an outstanding start this season. Even when the Cardinals lost Jordan Walden to injury and their starters went through some struggles, a heavily used bullpen answered the call in nearly every situation.
The top three relievers by ERA -- Carlos Villanueva, Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist -- all got the night off Friday after combining for 4 1/3 scoreless innings over the previous two days. The Cardinals have come from behind to win in eight of their past 15 games, most of which have been won by the bullpen.
Matheny expects to stick with 13 pitchers as a stretch of 36 games in 37 days continues, and it's a safe bet every one of them will continue to get chances to contribute.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
