Carlos Martinez came out of spring training as the St. Louis Cardinals’ No. 5 starter. Through 20 games, no pitcher on the team has been better.
Martinez gave up three hits in eight scoreless innings, Brandon Moss and Stephen Piscotty homered and the Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Tuesday night to square the four-game series at one win apiece.
Martinez (4-0) won for the fourth time in four starts. The 24-year-old right-hander held the Diamondbacks without a hit until David Peralta’s one-out single in the fourth.
St. Louis manager Mike Matheny liked the ease with which Martinez worked through the game.
”We’ve just seen different styles (from him),” Matheny said. ”This one was making off-speed pitches whenever he wanted to and then all of a sudden he waits until almost pitch 100 to show 98 (mph). He has that ability.”
”I realized that they look for the fastball on the first pitch,” Martinez said, ”so I threw a lot of breaking balls and they swung and missed.”
Moss had four hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning. Piscotty added a two-run shot in the seventh.
Former Cardinal Shelby Miller (0-2) threw four scoreless innings before St. Louis broke through for five runs in the fifth.
”It was definitely a step forward from what he was dealing with,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. ”The ball was coming out of his hand free and easy. His cutter was good.”
Miller didn’t make it past the second inning in either of his previous two outings.