Cardinals' Martinez quiets Brewers' bats
ST. LOUIS -- Carlos Martinez bounced back from a series of poor starts, allowing just one unearned run on four hits over 7 1/3 innings while leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
The win was the first of the season for Martinez, coming in his sixth start and after he had allowed 15 earned runs in 21 1/3 innings in his previous four starts for a 6.33 ERA.
Martinez (1-3) allowed only one hit until Domingo Santana got an infield single with two outs in the seventh. A wild pitch and an error by Matt Carpenter moved Santana to third, and Santana scored on a single by Jett Bandy.
Martinez left after striking out Jonathan Villar in the eighth with a runner on first. Brett Cecil got out of the inning, and Trevor Rosenthal worked the ninth to earn his third save.
The Cardinals gave Martinez a 2-0 lead in the sixth. Carpenter led off with a single and went to third on a double by Stephen Piscotty, which knocked starter Wily Peralta out of the game. Yadier Molina greeted reliever Jacob Barnes with a sacrifice fly, and Piscotty later scored on a single by Kolten Wong.
Peralta (4-2) lost his ninth consecutive decision against the Cardinals in his last 11 starts. He has not defeated the St. Louis since Aug. 1, 2014. He gave up two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Making his first start since ditching his silver braided hair extensions, Martinez set the Brewers down in order through the first four innings, with only two balls being hit out of the infield. The streak of 12 consecutive outs ended when Travis Shaw led off the fifth with a single to center on an 0-2 pitch.
Shaw went to second on a wild pitch, but following a two-out walk to Bandy, a fielder's choice groundout ended the inning.
NOTES: The Cardinals placed LHP Tyler Lyons on the 10-day disabled list and recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala from Triple-A Memphis. Lyons had pitched in just two games, a total of three innings, since coming off the DL as he recovered from offseason knee surgery. He was diagnosed with a strained intercostal muscle. ... Tuivailala began the year with the Cardinals before he was optioned to Memphis. ... Brewers OF Ryan Braun is closer to returning to the lineup, said manager Craig Counsell, but likely will miss another game or two. He has tightness in his right trapezius muscle but he was able to pinch hit in the ninth inning. ... The Cardinals used the same eight position players, in the same spot in the batting order, for the fourth consecutive game.