Martinez tosses gem as Cardinals blank Brewers
Carlos Martinez fired four-hit ball over 8 1/3 scoreless innings Wednesday night as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Milwaukee Brewers 6-0 at Miller Park in Milwaukee.
Bouncing back from a dismal Opening Day start Thursday at the New York Mets, who knocked him out in the fifth inning of a 9-4 loss, Martinez (1-1) walked two and fanned 10. He struck out every Milwaukee starter except Travis Shaw and Manny Pina.
St. Louis (3-3) touched Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin (0-1) for seven hits and six runs, three earned, over 5 2/3 innings. Chacin walked two and whiffed five.
The Cardinals took the lead two batters into the game. Dexter Fowler led off with a double and took third on the first of three Milwaukee errors. Tommy Pham knocked him in with an infield out.
St. Louis upped the lead to 3-0 in the third. After Fowler walked and Pham smacked a ground-rule double, Matt Carpenter's groundout plated Fowler. Marcell Ozuna cashed in Pham with a two-out single.
Yadier Molina made it 4-0 in the fourth, lashing the inning's first pitch 399 feet over the wall in left.
The Cardinals capped the scoring in the sixth with the help of two Brewers miscues. Molina's sacrifice fly sent Ozuna home, and a throwing error after Kolten Wong's infield hit enabled Paul DeJong to score.
Milwaukee (4-2) nearly spoiled the shutout in the ninth, but reliever Bud Norris induced a bases-loaded 1-2-3 double play from Pina to end it.
--Field Level Media