Carlos Martinez Helps Cardinals Rally Past Marlins 4-3
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MIAMI (AP) — Right-hander Carlos Martinez shook off a slow start and a fastball that hit him in the right shoulder to pitch seven innings, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 4-3 Tuesday.
Martinez (8-3) trailed 3-0 after 1 1-3 innings before settling down. He retired the final seven batters he faced, including three after taking a 94-mph fastball in the shoulder while trying to bunt in the seventh.
Martinez struck out nine and allowed eight hits. He gave up a two-run homer in the first inning to major league home run and RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton, a shot estimated at 484 feet.
That matched Stanton's previous longest this year, and he now has 26 homers, including the longest two in the majors in 2015.
Justin Heyward hit his eighth homer for the Cardinals.
With the score 3-all and two outs in the seventh, Mark Reynolds hit a full-count pitch off the right foot of pitcher Sam Dyson (3-3) for an infield single to put the Cardinals ahead.
Earlier in the inning, Martinez was hit in the right shoulder by a pitch from Dyson, fell to the ground face first and was slow to rise. But Martinez took his base and showed no ill effects when he returned to the mound, throwing one pitch 98 mph.
Martinez improved to 5-0 in his past seven starts. Trevor Rosenthal pitched around a single in the ninth for his 22nd save in 23 chances.
Marlins starter Jose Urena allowed three runs in five innings, his worst outing this month.
Stanton's homer, a tape-measure shot that landed near the beer garden in left field, put Miami ahead 2-0 in the first. It was his 11th homer in June, breaking the club record for the month set by Hanley Ramirez in 2008.
The Marlins' Adeiny Hechavarria had an RBI single in the second, but they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Heyward homered into the upper deck in right field in the fourth, and Xavier Scruggs hit a two-run double later in the inning to make it 3-all.
The Cardinals' Jhonny Peralta grounded into two double plays and struck out three times.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: 3B Matt Carpenter sat out with a tight back but was available off the bench.
Marlins: RHP Jarred Cosart (vertigo) is expected to be activated Thursday, but it's unclear when he'll rejoin the rotation. LHP Justin Nicolino, who pitched seven shutout innings in his major league debut Saturday, will get another start, manager Dan Jennings said. ... 1B Michael Morse (finger) is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A New Orleans and may come off the DL soon.
Umpires: Plate ump Adam Hamari was knocked down and shaken up when hit in the chest protector by a fastball in the eighth inning, but he worked the rest of the game.
UP NEXT
LHP Jaime Garcia (2-3, 1.76), who has pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings, is scheduled to start Wednesday for the Cardinals against RHP Mat Latos (2-4, 5.37). Garcia will be facing the Marlins for the first time since 2011.
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