Martinez helps Cardinals soar over Diamondbacks
Michael Wacha allowed two runs on four hits in five innings and Jose Martinez hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning and added an RBI single to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 win over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
On an 0-2 pitch with two men on base, Martinez smashed a Zack Greinke offering over the center-field fence. Tommy Pham and Marcell Ozuna also scored to give St. Louis a lead it would not relinquish as the Cardinals moved to 4-4. Bud Norris pitched a scoreless ninth with three strikeouts for the save.
Arizona lost for just the second time this season as Greinke had a rough outing. Greinke allowed more than four runs just four times last year and came into the game off a 5 2/3 inning, five-hit, nine-strikeout no-decision against Colorado in his first start of the season, which the Diamondbacks lost 2-1.
The Cardinals tagged Greinke for eight hits in the first three innings, but Arizona stuck with its ace, and St. Louis did not get another hit until Yadier Molina opened the sixth inning with a single.
Arizona (6-2) jumped to an early lead off Wacha, with David Peralta walking to open the game and scoring three batters later on A.J. Pollock's RBI single. Wacha finished with three walks in the first but settled down with two walks the rest of the way.
St. Louis banged three straight hits in the bottom of the first, with Martinez singling home Matt Carpenter to tie the game at 1.
The Diamondbacks took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third on Chris Owings' RBI single to score Pollock, but the Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the frame. After Dexter Fowler doubled to open the inning and Pham followed with a single, Matt Carpenter tied it up on a sacrifice fly that scored Fowler. Ozuna followed with a single and Martinez homered to put St. Louis up.
The teams complete the series with a rubber match on Sunday, with Luke Weaver pitching for the Cardinals against Arizona's Taijuan Walker.
--Field Level Media
