The Cardinals played well enough and scored enough Wednesday to overcome a lot – just not the two things that they’ll have to overcome to make the most of this season: their starting pitching and those Cubs. The Cardinals peppered Cubs ace Jake Arrieta like no team had in nearly a year and put the winning run on base with no outs in the ninth.
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Jake Arrieta remained unbeaten despite allowing as many as four runs for the first time in almost a year.
“We grind whoever it is”, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “It would have been a big one to take”.
Martin had not homered in his first 124 at-bats this year, but he ended the drought on consecutive swings in the sixth and seventh innings.
“We always thought we were in it and always thought we had a chance to win it”, outfielder Randal Grichuk said.
The Cardinals had a promising chance to tie or win the game in the ninth inning, as Stephen Piscotty and Matt Adams reached base with no outs.
The Marlins were 4-3 winners over Tampa Bay, the Mariners routed the Athletics 13-2, Texas beat the Angels 15-9 – with Rangers rookie Nomar Mazara hitting the longest home run in the major leagues this season – and the Twins held off the Royals 7-5.
Mark Melancon worked around Chris Owings’ second double of the game with two outs to pitch a scoreless ninth and get his 16th save in 17 opportunities. “I got a good pitch to hit and just missed it”.
“The way we’re swinging the bats and the way I’m capable of throwing on an extended period, I think we can keep it going a little longer”.
David Wright hit his sixth homer of the season in the first and Rene Rivera singled in a run in the seventh to help NY take the decider of a three-game set.
Miguel Sano hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the fifth inning after Minnesota lost an early lead, and the Twins staved off another series sweep.
In Washington, Steven Matz pitched a career-high eight innings to win his seventh consecutive start for NY. It trailed by six before play on May 10.
Carlos Martinez (4-5) surrendered all six runs of his runs in the second as the Cardinals fell behind 6-1.
“When it’s 6-1 in the third inning, I feel like we’re going to win that game no matter what”, Arrieta said.
“That stretch started after Arrieta allowed four runs in a loss to the Indians “ the last time he allowed more than three runs in a start before Wednesday.
“I totally believe they will be there in the end”, manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday after the Cubs (31-14) expanded their lead to eight games over the Cardinals (24-23).
“They were able to do some things offensively, have some extended at-bats and put some good swings on balls and make my job hard”, said Arrieta, whose last loss on the road came at the same venue more than a year ago.
Beyond that, the Cubs have now won the last 23 regular season games started by Arrieta, which ties the Major League Baseball record set by the Braves and Kris Medlen. He added three more hits, a run scored, and two RBIs on Wednesday.
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Cardinals: The team acquired outfielder Jose Martinez from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations and assigned him to Triple-A Memphis. RHP Mitch Harris (elbow) was moved to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Martinez on the 40-man roster. Quintana’s ERA, an AL-best 1.98 at the start of the day, rose to 2.22.
