Stanton's First Spring Homer Not Enough Against Cards
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JUPITER (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton's first home run of the spring wasn't enough to help Miami overcome a dazzling pitching performance by Carlos Martinez for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 4-1 win Wednesday.
An All-Star last season, Martinez threw five shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out five.
"He was nasty," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It was effortless velocity. Every pitch he had today looked sharp."
Martinez was particularly pleased with his offspeed deliveries.
"I was able to use that changeup, especially behind in the count — 2-1, 2-0," Martinez said via a translator. "I liked the fact that I threw it to right-handed hitters. That's something I've been working on. It feels pretty good, so hopefully I can continue to do that."
Stanton tied it at 1 in the seventh when he hit a 3-0 fastball from Trevor Rosenthal over the center field wall.
"It was good to get on top of a fastball. I've seemed to pop up the last couple," Stanton said.
Brandon Moss doubled home two runs in the bottom half of the inning. The Cardinals had been 0-6-2 in their last eight games.
"We go out to win every time we go out to play the game," Matheny said. "I didn't know the exact number. It seemed like it's been a long time since we've slapped high-fives after a game, so it was nice today."
STARTING TIME
Marlins: Though he only allowed one run, Tom Koehler needed 91 pitches to get through five innings.
"The goal was to get that many (pitches), but not over the course of as few innings," Koehler said. "I need to be a little more economical."
Cardinals: Martinez helped himself in the field by making an athletic leaping play to snare a one-hopper hit by J.T. Realmuto, then tossing on to first to end the third inning.
"Believe it or not I've been working on that. I've been working not to fall down from the mound and trying to follow through because I want to be able to help myself with comebackers," Martinez said. "Today it worked, so I'm doing a pretty good job with it."
MATHENY RETURNS
Matheny returned to the dugout after spending a couple of days in West Virginia following the death of his grandmother.
BULLPEN BOUND?
Miami signed Edwin Jackson to compete for a role in its starting rotation but he could break camp as a member of the Marlins bullpen.
"We shortened him up yesterday knowing that that could be a possibility," manager Don Mattingly said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: CF Marcel Ozuna was a late scratch. He injured his ankle on a slide during Tuesday's game. Mattingly expects Ozuna to play on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Marlins: Miami will play its third consecutive game at Roger Dean Stadium when the Twins come to Jupiter. Adam Conley gets the ball for the Marlins against Tommy Milone.
Cardinals: St. Louis heads up to Viera, where ace Adam Wainwright starts against Washington.
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