Cards blank Brewers 6-0
ST. LOUIS — Playing time in the St. Louis outfield has been hard to come by for Jose Martinez lately. He earned some more Tuesday afternoon.
Martinez hit two solo homers and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-0 in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Martinez connected in the fifth and eighth innings for his first multi-homer game. He added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
“He’s doing a nice job, even in the outfield,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s doing everything we ask and you talk about dangerous hitters, I think you can count him in that category.” Martinez had just one at-bat in since June 7 entering the game. The 28-year
old had finally earned regular playing time earlier this season, before a groin injury sidelined him for three weeks. Since then, Dexter Fowler, Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty have solidified the Cardinals outfield.
“When you’re not playing, you’ve got to be ready for every opportunity,” Martinez said. “Everything is mental. You’ve got to be mentally prepared 100 percent and try to make something happen every time and not try to do too much.” Martinez’s 415-foot opposite field drive to right-center ignited a three-run
Cardinals rally in the fifth. Matt Carpenter followed with an RBI double and scored on Fowler’s single to make it 3-0.
Kolten Wong had an RBI double as the Cardinals extended their lead to 5-0 in the sixth. Martinez’s homer to left in the eighth travelled 436 feet. The game was
especially meaningful because it was the first time his mother, visiting from Venezuela, had gotten to see him play in the big leagues.
“You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow and that’s the deal for me,” Martinez said. “You’ve got to go out there and do your best.” Right-hander Lance Lynn (5-3) struggled with his control with four walks,
but was able to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth. Lynn struck out eight, including the side in the fourth inning.
“They put together some good at-bats,” Lynn said. “There wasn’t too many hard hit balls either. I had good stuff; I was just missing here and there at times.” John Brebbia pitched a perfect sixth inning and Tyler Lyons pitched the
final three innings to earn his first career save. The Cardinals bullpen allowed three hits in four innings.
Lefty Brent Suter, recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs as the Brewers’ 26th man for the doubleheader, got the surprise start after right-hander Brandon Woodruff had his major league debut postponed during warm-ups because of right hamstring soreness. Suter (0-1) started with four innings of one-hit ball, before running into
trouble in the fifth. He also recorded his first major league hit with a single to left in the top of the fifth inning.