After defeating the Reds on Friday night 6-1, the Cardinals aimed to extend their winning streak to four on Saturday afternoon.
And in a solid afternoon performance, they did just that.
On the mound for St. Louis was Carlos Martinez, who didn’t get a win nor a loss during his last start (which also happened to be against the Reds). The Cardinals still wound up winning the game in extra innings, 4-1. As for the Reds, the starting pitcher on the mound was Homer Bailey, considered the best pitcher in Cincinnati’s rotation (if not Johnny Cueto).
The Cardinals scored first, in the bottom of the first inning. Following a single by Matt Carpenter (who extended his hitting streak to six), Jason Heyward was unable to advance him, hitting into a double play.
Matt Holliday, however, would extend his hitting streak to 10 games, getting his first extra-base hit, lining a double to center field. He would score when Matt Adams would single to right field, giving St. Louis the 1-0 lead. Holliday would leave the game in the top of the second due to back tightness, and Jon Jay would take his place in left, and Peter Bourjos would move to center field.
In the bottom of the third, Heyward would launch a ball over 400 feet past the right-center field wall, for his first home run as a Cardinal, increasing the Cardinals’ lead to two. Yardier Molina would double in the bottom of the fourth, scoring shortstop Jhonny Peralta, as St. Louis garnered a 3-0 lead over the Reds.
Martinez allowed the first run of the game for Cincinnati during the top of the fifth inning when Zack Cozart hit his first home run on the year, to cut the lead for St. Louis to 3-1.
It would be the only run allowed by the young right-hander. When he was taken out of the game in the seventh, he pitched six innings, allowed three hits, one run (the home run), two walks, and struck out four. He threw 86 pitches, and 53 of them were strikes.
During the bottom of the sixth, following singles by Jay and Molina, Carpenter doubled on a line drive towards Jay Bruce, giving the Cardinals the 5-1 lead. Bailey would be taken out, and it turned out to be the first game since 2009 against the Pirates that he did not strike out a single batter.
As for the Cardinals, Seth Maness would enter the game to replace Martinez, and following a single by Marlon Byrd, Brayan Pena would ground into a double play, and pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker would ground out to end the top of the seventh.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Brandon Phillips singled home Kristopher Negron, cutting the lead to three for St. Louis.
Unfortunately for the Reds, that would be the last run they would score for the remainder of the game.Trevor Rosenthal entered the game in the ninth inning, and despite allowing a single and a walk, shut down the Reds when it mattered, just as Jordan Walden did the inning before, and got his fourth save of the season, striking out Joey Votto to end the game, as the Cardinals won 5-2.
Martinez is now 1-0 in two starts, while Bailey is 0-1 in one start.
The Cardinals improve to 7-3 on the season, while the Reds drop to 5-6. The ace of the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright, gets the start tomorrow night, as St. Louis looks to sweep Cincinnati.
(AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
