LDN - Sports

Martinez, Cardinals hold off Rockies

[September 20, 2016] DENVER -- St. Louis Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez experienced considerably more trouble Monday night with the mile-high altitude than the Colorado Rockies' batters.

He overcame a laborious first inning and a dash around the bases after getting a tiebreaking hit, and he fought his way through five innings in the Cardinals' 5-3 win.

"The altitude affects everybody differently," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It affected him for sure."

In the first inning, Martinez threw 35 pitches while walking two and giving up a run on David Dahl's single.

"You watched that first inning, it's hard to see him get through five," Matheny said. "We were about to get somebody up. But he made it through."

Not easily, to be sure. Martinez wound up allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. However, he needed 102 pitches to last long enough to qualify for the win.

He broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run double in the fourth and then scored on Matt Carpenter's shattered-bat bloop single. The runs scored with two outs and were unearned due to third baseman Nolan Arenado's throwing error.

After scoring, Martinez tried to gather himself for one batter as the top of the inning ended before taking the mound in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Matheny and a trainer went out to check on Martinez (15-8), and a batboy then came out and gave the pitcher a cup of water.

"He looked green," Matheny said. "It didn't look like he was feeling well, looked light-headed. Tried to take as much time as we could. Went out and gave him another little breather and a chance to get more water."

Speaking through a translator, Martinez said, "Mike was able to read my facial expressions and knew I needed a break. I kind of felt a lack of oxygen and was able to breathe and come to myself."

Five relievers followed Martinez to the mound and held the Rockies scoreless until pinch hitter Ryan Raburn homered with one out in the ninth against Kevin Siegrist. It was Raburn's fourth pinch-hit homer this season and the eighth of his career.

Charlie Blackmon followed with an opposite-field, broken-bat single to left. Siegrist, who came on in the ninth because closer Seung Hwan Oh worked the previous two days, a total of three innings, struck out DJ LeMahieu on a 72 mph curveball in the dirt but walked Carlos Gonzalez. Siegrist got Arenado to line to left to earn his third save.

Martinez was hit on the left calf with a Tyler Anderson pitch in the third, right after Jedd Gyroko doubled and Randal Grichuk hit his 23rd homer to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

"Luckily I got hit where there's muscle," Martinez said. "For a minute I got scared and thought I was going to be taken out of the game, but I was able to recuperate and stay right in the game."

The Cardinals moved into a tie with the Giants for the second National League wild card. The New York Mets are a game ahead of San Francisco and St. Louis in the top wild-card position.

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Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez (18) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Anderson (5-6) gave up five runs, two earned, on eight hits in seven innings. He issued no walks, struck out seven and whittled his ERA in 12 starts at Coors Field to 3.00. Anderson has pitched at least six innings in 13 of his 19 career starts.

"I think it was a step in the right direction from the last outing," said Anderson, referring to Sept. 12 at Arizona, where he allowed six runs, five earned, and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. "Obviously, you're always trying to make some progress, so I'm glad there was some progress. But I'd like it to go a little differently. Tonight my focus was to really get ahead and to try and throw a lot more strikes than I did last time and stay out of hitter's counts."

After retiring the first two batters in the fourth, Anderson gave up a single to Gyorko, and Grichuk reached on Arenado's error. Arenado went to his left to snare the grounder and spun, but first baseman Gerardo Parra left the base to catch the high throw.

"We have seen him make that play," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of Arenado. "He makes it look easy, and that wasn't an easy play. And then the throw was a little high; it was a tough play."

Arenado's two-out single in the third tied the score at 2 and broke his 0-for-7 drought. The hit scored LeMahieu, who singled with one out and moved up on Martinez's wild pitch. LeMahieu extended his career-high on-base streak to 35 games.

NOTES: LHP Jorge De La Rosa on Tuesday will make his final start of the season -- and most likely the last of his Rockies career. Colorado then will go back to a five-man rotation in order to give RHP German Marquez his first three major league starts, beginning Wednesday.. Rockies 1B Mark Reynolds was re-examined, and he will not need surgery on his fractured left hand. He sustained the season-ending injury Sunday when he was hit by a pitch. ... RHP Jairo Diaz, who underwent Tommy John surgery in March, will leave Tuesday for the Rockies' complex in Scottsdale, Ariz., and continue his rehab there. He will begin throwing bullpen sessions. ... Cardinals LF Matt Holliday (right thumb fracture) took batting practice after a two-day layoff and will try to do so again Tuesday.

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