Martínez has everything working in Cards 6-0 shutout victory.
The gem:
The Tsunami alert was in full swing Wednesday night at Miller Park. Carlos Martínez held the Brewers lineup at bay all night long.
Every pitch in the repertoire was on point.
But the most lethal pitch of the game for Martínez, the slider.
If I were to pick one slider that stood out to me tonight, it was the one he struck out Thames looking on in the bottom of the 6th. Backdoor sliders are my weakness, Carlos had me feeling some type of way tonight to say the least.
Carlos set down 16 straight Brewers hitters after allowing a single to Jonathan Villar in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
During that span, the Cardinals pushed across 5 runs to allow Carlos breathing space, not that he needed any tonight.
Carlos was so efficient tonight that Matheny gave him the chance for the CGSO.
Carlos retired Cain quickly to start the bottom of the 9th with a ground-out to DeJong. (DeJong had 5 putouts tonight behind Carlos) Shaw followed with a single into CF that barely missed DeJong’s outstretched glove.
Domingo Santana followed that with what looked like a game ending double play, only to be botched by the newly entered third baseman, Yairo Muñoz. (Yes, Matheny took his 3-hole hitter out of the game early, shocker.)
This forced the Cardinals to turn it over to their bullpen as Carlos’ pitch count ended the night at 114 pitches (74 strikes) with a game score of 88.
This was the first quality start for a Cardinals SP this season, giving the pen some needed rest heading into the home-opener.
Tsunami’s final line of the night (8.1 innings, 4 hits *all singles*, 0 runs, 2 walks, HBP, 10 strikeouts)
Tuivailala was called upon and given a mighty fine short leash, I’d have to assume it’s almost the end of the line for Tui. Tuivailala gave up a flare into CF off the bat of Villar to load the bases up for Milwaukee. Suddenly, thoughts of last night settled in all our heads.
Bud Norris immediately came in to close the door after the Villar single forcing Manny Piña to ground into a game ending 1-2-3 double play as the Cardinals held on to win 6-0, winning the series against division rivals.
Norris has worked 3 perfect innings to begin his Cardinals career. (3 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts)
Offense:
Fowler started the game off with a leadoff double in the LF gap as he smashed the second pitch he saw from Chacín. This is the second game in a row Fowler has been aggressive to leadoff the game, a trend I’d love to see more.
Fowler advanced to third base on a missed catch error from Villar on a Chacín pickoff attempt and later scored on an RBI ground-out by Tommy Pham.
The Cardinals offense added 2 more runs in the 3rd inning as Marcell Ozuna collected his 5th RBI of the season driving in Pham who smoked a double into LF just two batters before.
Yadier Molina picked up exactly where he left off, smacking the first pitch fastball from Chacín over the LF wall for a solo HR to begin the 4th inning.
Paul DeJong also extended his hitting streak to a modest 6 games as he finished the night with a quiet (2-4) line with two singles and a run scored.
The Brewers defense was in shambles all night, committing 3 errors, bringing their season total to 7 already.
The Cardinals will have a “happy flight” back home to Busch Stadium tonight as they take on the red hot D-Backs in their home-opener tomorrow evening.
Adam Wainwright has officially been given the nod as the Cardinals activated him from the 10-day DL today, sending Jack Flaherty to Memphis.
Hope I can see some of you all tomorrow night!!
Thanks for reading , Cheers!
Stew // @StewStilez
