Martinez steps up at plate, on mound as Cards win
CARDINALS 3, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO — St. Louis pitcher Carlos Martinez found his rhythm early, both on the mound and at the plate.
It was another encouraging sign for the right-hander, who struggled through a rough May and wound up on the disabled list for the first time in his career.
Martinez pitched seven effective innings for his third consecutive victory and doubled in the Cardinals’ first run in a 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Saturday.
“You could tell he found something in the ’pen that he carried right onto the mound in the first inning,” St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny said. “That’s a great place for him to be and he just kept building on it. Now it looks just like he was before he got hurt.”
Martinez missed 23 games while sidelined with a right lat strain and was only marginally effective upon his return. In his last three starts, however, Martinez has a 2.36 ERA while allowing 5 runs in 19 innings.
Martinez allowed 1 run on 6 hits with 3 strikeouts and did not walk a batter for the third time this season.
Kolton Wong had two hits and scored a run, disgruntled outfielder Dexter Fowler added a sacrifice fly and Francisco Pena singled in a run.
Martinez (6-4) was steady most of the afternoon and only allowed one runner past first base until the sixth inning. He got Brandon Belt to pop out with a runner on third in the first, stranded runners on base in the second and fourth and then got Brandon Crawford to ground out after Belt’s RBI double in the sixth.
CUBS 8, REDS 7 Javier Baez homered and had four hits — including a game-tying infield single in the eighth — and host Chicago rallied from a five-run deficit for a victory over Cincinnati.
PHILLIES 3, PIRATES 2 Nick Williams, Scott Kingery and Jorge Alfaro drove in runs on consecutive at-bats in the seventh inning to help visiting Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh.
BRAVES 5, BREWERS 1 Anibal Sanchez pitched effectively into the seventh and Freddie Freeman added three hits, lifting slumping Atlanta to a victory over host Milwaukee.
NATIONALS 18, MARLINS 4 Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs, Max Scherzer won for the first time since June 5, and Washington beat visiting Miami.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RED SOX 15, ROYALS 4 Former Arkansas Razorback Andrew Benintendi homered, doubled, walked a career-high four times and scored four runs as Boston routed host Kansas City.
TWINS 5, ORIOLES 4 Kyle Gibson recovered from a rough start to throw seven innings, and Max Kepler homered in his second consecutive game to lead Minnesota past visiting Baltimore.
YANKEES 8, BLUE JAYS 5 Luis Severino pitched five innings to earn his major league-leading 14th victory, Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge each hit solo home runs, and New York beat host Toronto.
ASTROS 12, WHITE SOX 6 Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman each homered and Charlie Morton won his 11th as Houston beat visiting Chicago for its fifth consecutive victory. ATHLETICS 6, INDIANS 3 (11) Stephen Piscotty hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the 11th inning and Oakland rallied for a victory over Cleveland. TIGERS 7, RANGERS 2 Nicholas Castellanos homered as part of a seven-run first inning for the Tigers, and Detroit cruised to a victory over visiting Texas.
INTERLEAGUE
ROCKIES 5, MARINERS 1 Noel Cuevas hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning among his three hits to lead Colorado to a victory over host Seattle. RAYS 3, METS 0 Blake Snell blanked the Mets over a career-high-tying 71/3 innings, Wilson Ramos drove in a pair of runs and visiting Tampa Bay downed New York.
DODGERS 3, ANGELS 1 Ross Stripling pitched another gem and Justin Turner drove in two runs to lead the visiting Dodgers to a victory over the Angels in the Freeway Series.