Matheny sticks with Martinez, Cardinals win series opener
ST. LOUIS — All season, the St. Louis Cardinals have tried to minimize the innings load for Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, saving their two young pitchers for the postseason.
During a 4- 3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night, manager Mike Matheny said the 23- yearold Martinez was simply too good to take out early.
“The potential win supersedes anything we have in place right now,” Matheny said. “Right then we needed our best pitcher, and to me he was the best pitcher we had for that situation, and I think he proved that.”
Martinez ( 12- 4) gave up single runs in the first, third and fourth but kept it close for a breakthrough three- run fifth that began with consecutive walks to Kolten Wong and Jhonny Peralta. He matched his career high for innings, striking out eight with one walk.
“Carlos did what our pitching’s known for,” Wong said of the righthander. “We’re facing some good pitching on that side and they’re going to face our best pitching. It’s exciting.”
Yadier Molina tied it with a sacrifice fly and rookie Stephen Piscotty singled in the go- ahead run on consecutive at- bats off Jeff Locke ( 6- 7) in the fifth inning. Wong singled twice for his first multihit game of the month and Piscotty had three hits.
Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth for his 34th save in 36 chances. Jason Heyward had two hits and two RBIs for St. Louis.
Pedro Alvarez homered on a drive estimated at 446 feet that put the Pirates up 3- 2 in the fourth.
Mariners 6, Orioles 5
SEATTLE — Austin Jackson hit a bases- loaded single in the 10th inning to lift Seattle over Baltimore Orioles, marking the first time since baseball expanded to 30 clubs that all 15 home teams won on the same day.
Jackson’s single off reliever T. J. McFarland ( 0- 2) down the right- field line scored Logan Morrison from third and finished off the major league schedule for the night.
The last time home teams went undefeated on a day with more than one game was an 8- 0 record on Aug. 28, according to STATS.
The best performance by home teams had been 11- 0, accomplished six times — three in the 1800s. The most recent occasion was Sept. 16, 1989.
Indians 5, Yankees 4
CLEVELAND — Michael Brantley’s RBI single with one out in the 16th inning lifted Cleveland past New York.
Brantley hit a hard single off Branden Pinder ( 0- 2) that first baseman Mark Teixeira couldn’t handle and easily scored Jose Ramirez from second base. Brantley’s clutch hit ended the 5- hour, 4- minute game and triggered just the second walk- off winning celebration by the Indians this season.
Austin Adams ( 2- 0) worked a perfect inning and combined with seven other Cleveland pitchers to record 16 strikeouts.
Cubs 6, Brewers 3
CHICAGO — Anthony Rizzo and Jorge Soler each drove in two runs, and Dan Haren picked up his first victory for and Chicago.
Haren ( 8- 7), acquired from Miami on July 31, pitched into the sixth. Rizzo had two hits, including an RBI double, and drew a bases- loaded walk. He is 19 for 42 in his past 12 games.
Dodgers 5, Nationals 0
LOS ANGELES — Yasiel Puig drove in a career high- tying five runs with a homer and a triple, Zack Greinke pitched six sharp innings and Los Angeles defeated Washington to snap a season- worst four- game skid.
Greinke ( 12- 2) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked four to remain unbeaten in his last 10 starts, going 7- 0 in that span. He lowered his major league- leading ERA to 1.65.
Blue Jays 4, Athletics 2
TORONTO — Jose Bautista hit a solo home run, and Drew Hutchison pitched seven strong innings for Toronto.
Hutchison ( 11- 2) allowed two runs and four hits in seven- plus innings. The right- hander hadn’t completed seven innings since a complete- game victory over the Chicago White Sox on May 25.
Royals 6, Tigers 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lorenzo Cain went 4 for 4 with a home run and Yordano Ventura pitched six scoreless innings.
Cain led off the sixth with his 12th homer. Mike Moustakas snapped an 0- for- 18 drought with a homer to right field with Kendrys Morales aboard in the same inning.
Ventura ( 7- 7) limited the Tigers to two hits but walked a career- high six. He struck out eight, tying his season high.
Mets 4, Rockies 0
NEW YORK — Matt Harvey pitched four- hit ball for eight innings, Ruben Tejada had a go- ahead single in the sixth and New York beat Colorado for the eighth straight time at Citi Field.
Juan Lagares had a two- run double in the eighth to help the Mets improve to 40- 18 at home, matching last season’s win total when they lost 41 at Citi Field.
Harvey ( 11- 7) walked none for the third straight outing and struck out four.
Twins 3, Rangers 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Eduardo Escobar’s two- out double in the ninth inning drove in the winning run, capping a late rally by Minnesota.
Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano tied the game with RBI doubles in the eighth, and Glen Perkins ( 1- 3) pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the win, just the seventh for the Twins in 23 games since the All- Star break.
Spencer Patton ( 1- 1) quickly got the first two outs in the ninth, but he walked Kurt Suzuki before Escobar grounded a full- count fastball down the right- field line.
Giants 3, Astros 1
SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner pitched a five- hitter with 12 strikeouts, and Brandon Belt broke up a pitcher’s duel with two solo homers.
Bumgarner ( 13- 6) outpitched fellow southpaw Scott Kazmir ( 6- 7) in an anticipated interleague matchup of top lefties for the World Series MVP’s eighth career complete game and second this season. He didn’t walk a batter in the 105- pitch gem.
White Sox 3, Angels 0
CHICAGO — Carlos Rodon threw seven scoreless innings, and Trayce Thompson hit his first career home for Chicago.
Rodon ( 5- 4) struck out a careerhigh 11, allowing four hits and finishing seven innings for the first time. Hector Santiago ( 7- 6) was making his first start at U. S. Cellular Field since being acquired by Los Angeles from the White Sox in a December 2013 three- team deal.
Padres 11, Reds 6
SAN DIEGO — Colin Rea pitched into the sixth inning in his major league debut, and Jedd Gyorko homered and drove in four runs for San Diego.
San Diego scored three runs in the first and five more in the second as they chased Cincinnati starter Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen ( 3- 8) gave up seven runs on seven hits in his shortest outing of the season.
Rea ( 1- 0) allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking one.
Rays 2, Braves 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Erasmo Ramirez pitched efficiently into the eighth inning for his first win in more than a month, Kevin Kiermaier hit a two- run homer for Tampa Bay.
Perez ( 4- 3) gave up four hits in his first career complete game. Ramirez ( 9- 4) won for the first time in five starts since July 10.
Marlins 5, Red Sox 4
MIAMI — Dee Gordon tripled to lead off the 10th inning and scored on a walk- off base hit by Justin Bour to lift Miami to a come- from- behind win.
The Red Sox led 4- 0 in the sixth inning before the Marlins scored two runs in the sixth, one in the seventh and one in the ninth. Bryan Morris ( 43) earned the victory with a scoreless 10th.
D’backs 13, Phillies 1
PHOENIX — Arizona’s David Peralta hit a grand slam in an 11- run second inning and tied a career high with five RBIs.
The 11 runs, all off starter David Buchanan, were the second- most scored in an inning in Diamondbacks’ history. Peralta and Aaron Hill hit home runs and Jeremy Hellickson becoming the second pitcher in club history to collect two hits in one inning.
Hellickson ( 8- 8) allowed an unearned run and seven hits and struck out six, improving to 6- 1 in his last seven home starts.