The Sports Xchange
Jun 10, 2017
ST. LOUIS -- Carlos Martinez tossed his first shutout Saturday, four-hitting the Philadelphia Phillies and leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-0 win at Busch Stadium.
Martinez (5-5) walked one and struck out 11 in the first complete game of his career, allowing St. Louis (28-32) to win its second straight after a seven-game losing streak.
The only scare of the day for Martinez occurred when he was trying to bunt runners over to second and third in the bottom of the seventh. Reliever Jeanmar Gomez unleashed a high and tight fastball that appeared to hit Martinez in the head.
Plate umpire Chris Conroy ruled it a hit batter, although replays revealed it hit Martinez's bat and not the pitcher. It led to a three-run rally, thanks to a two-run double from Matt Carpenter and a Jedd Gyorko sacrifice fly.
Martinez appeared to have even better stuff in the ninth than he did in the first. He fanned Howie Kendrick with a 100 mph fastball on his 101st pitch of the day. With the crowd of 43,911 standing and cheering for the last out, Martinez retired Maikel Franco on a grounder to shortstop.
Nick Pivetta (1-3) took the loss for Philadelphia (21-39), which lost its fourth straight game. Pivetta lasted five innings, giving up four hits and four runs while walking four and whiffing two.
Pivetta matched Martinez through the first three innings, helping himself by picking off runners to end the first two frames. But command issues caught up with the rookie as the Cardinals scored four runs in the fourth.
After a leadoff walk to Dexter Fowler, Pivetta gave up a double to Stephen Piscotty. Gyorko laced a two-run double off the wall in right-center.
Later in the inning, Pivetta balked home Gyorko when he stumbled out of the stretch throwing a pitch to Eric Fryer. Adding insult to more insult, Fryer tacked on an RBI single to cap the rally.
NOTES: St. Louis C Yadier Molina (lower back stiffness) was scratched for a second straight game, with Eric Fryer taking his place. It's just the ninth time in 60 games that Molina hasn't started this year. ... Philadelphia RHP Casey Fien made his first appearance for the team Friday night with two scoreless inning. It also marked a milestone of sorts for Fien, as it was his 300th major league game. ... The Cardinals' 1-2 hitters, Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler, each had two hits on Friday night. It was just the second time this season they did it in the same game; the first was on April 27 in the nightcap of a doubleheader with Toronto.