The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday night. The final line of starting pitcher Carlos Martinez read 8 IP, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts.
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“Best I’ve ever seen him throw,” praised Mike Matheny afterwards in his media session broadcast on FSN. “That was no-hit stuff. From the first couple of pitches, Lilly and I were talking about how he was just so synched up–with his legs, it was easy, and the ball was jumping out of his hand. He had a plus changeup, he had a slider that was disappearing, and a couple of those sinkers were about 97. It was a very, very good showing of what he has and what he has the potential to do.”
Besides the velocity on his sinker, Martinez registered 100mph more than once on his fastball.
“He was attacking the zone with that fastball, keeping the ball down, using the sink more–did a good job tonight,” assessed Yadier Molina.
Martinez also hit a double and turned in a key defensive play, fielding a bunt and still throwing a bullet to first base as he fell back into foul territory on the third base line.
Jason Heyward went 3-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and supplied the big hit–a game-winning 2-run homer in the top of the 10th. He also stole his 21st base of the season, setting a new career season high.
The win moved the Cardinals back to 3.0 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central race as the Pirates split a double-header with the Chicago Cubs.
photo credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
