It was a chance at redemption for Carlos Martinez.
Taking the mound after allowing 10 runs in less than an inning against the Dodgers in his last start, all eyes were on Martinez as the Cardinals put their faith in him to stop their losing skid.
But it wasn’t meant to be. The Cardinals righty was battered again Tuesday, this time by the Cleveland Indians, who staked out an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, then added three more in the third on a home-run by slugger Jose Ramirez.
Martinez, albeit better than his last outing, lasted just four innings while allowing five runs, once again proving that he is incapable of being a starter at this point in his career, as the Cardinals dropped their sixth straight game.
Martinez dropped to 3-6 on the year, with his ERA climbing to 6.21.
And it certainly didn’t help that Cleveland had last year’s Cy Young award winner, Shane Bieber on the bump. Even worse, the Cards had an opportunity to jump on him in the fourth, trailing 5-1 with the bases loaded and two outs, and having already pushed Bieber’s pitch count up to over 70 pitches.
But that moment also passed, as pinch-hitter John Nogowski grounded into a force out to end the threat.
St. Louis has been flat in all facets of the game. The offense has remained inconsistent, and it marked the fourth straight game that their starter was not able to go deep, which would allow the taxed bullpen some much needed rest.
“We just really haven’t played our best this past week, and that happens,” said Paul Goldschmidt, who went 1-for-3 with a walk. “Tomorrow, you just try to play better. We’ve had some good things happen, just haven’t been able to get the W. Just keep getting after it and show up ready to go tomorrow.”
For tonight’s game, St. Louis will turn to perhaps the only starter they can depend on as of late, Adam Wainwright, who allowed three runs over 7 innings in his last start against the Reds. The Cardinals will be relying heavily on “Old Uncle Charlie” to right the ship and be a stopper, as he’s been so many times for them.
They’ll need Wainwright to go deep into the game, for sure, especially after the bullpen allowed five runs over the final five innings of last night’s game.
Wainwright is 3-5 with a 4.19 ERA over 11 starts this season.
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