St. Louis 3, LA Dodgers 1
When: 2:15 PM ET, Sunday, May 31, 2015
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Temperature:
59°
Umpires:
Home -
Marty Foster, 1B -
Mike Muchlinski, 2B -
Mike Winters, 3B -
Marcus Pattillo
Attendance:
45285
By The Sports Xchange
ST. LOUIS -- Carlos Martinez wiped eyes which were brimming with tears as he warmed up in the bullpen before Sunday's game, overcome by a video tribute to former teammate Oscar Taveras that played on a video board.
Martinez channeled his emotions into arguably the best start of his burgeoning major league career. The St. Louis Cardinals' right-hander allowed just one hit in seven dominant shutout innings to pick up a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium.
"I wanted to win it for Oscar," Martinez said through an interpreter.
St. Louis picked this day, the one-year anniversary of Taveras' big-league debut in which he belted a solo homer to help beat San Francisco, to honor the young man who died Oct. 25 in the Dominican Republic after an auto accident.
Some were wondering if Martinez might not fall victim to the occasion. Taveras' parents were on hand, sitting near the Cardinals' dugout, and participated in a pregame ceremony. Instead of letting emotion overcome him, Martinez (5-2) used it to throttle Los Angeles.
Right fielder Andre Ethier managed a second-inning single and Martinez issued three walks, including two in a row with one out in the sixth to create his only real jam of the day. But he fanned first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and second baseman Howie Kendrick, pounding his fist against his chest after getting Kendrick to sucker for an 0-2 breaking ball.
"From his first pitch to his last one, he turned it up a notch," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said of Martinez. "It was a tough test for him all the way around. I think today is one of those benchmark days for him."
Martinez ended his three-walk, eight-strikeout day in style, freezing left fielder Alex Guerrero with a breaking ball to end the seventh.
The Cardinals' bullpen closed it out, although not without drama. Kevin Siegrist coughed up a two-out solo homer to center fielder Joc Pederson in the eighth and closer Trevor Rosenthal issued two two-out walks in the ninth before slipping a called third strike past third baseman Justin Turner to notch his 15th save.
As fireworks boomed overhead and a sellout crowd of 45,285 celebrated, Turner got in the face of plate umpire Marty Foster and was ejected -- the third Dodger to get heaved in the series.
"I think the last two (strikes were) clearly off the plate," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of Turner's at-bat. "It's too bad but again, you can't win that fight. They (umpires) have the power."
So does St. Louis shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who accounted for all three runs by his team. Peralta cracked a two-run homer into the Los Angeles bullpen off starter Brett Anderson in the first, then supplied insurance in the eighth with a bloop single that scored pinch hitter Jon Jay from second.
Anderson (2-3) gave up five hits and two runs in six innings, walking three and fanning five. The left-hander also picked two runners off first base to maneuver out of trouble.
But it wasn't enough to keep Los Angeles from falling to 29-20. Meanwhile, the Cardinals (33-17) improved to 5-1 on their nine-game homestand, upping their home record to 20-6.
Their latest win came courtesy of a pitcher pitching for a cause.
"I had to work hard to get my focus back," Martinez said about pitching after the tribute to Taveras. "His mother and father were here, so I wanted to win it for them."
NOTES: St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (flu-like symptoms) was scratched from Sunday's lineup about two hours before the game. Holliday started Saturday night's rain-delayed game but left after four innings due to illness. ... Los Angeles RF Andre Ethier needs just one RBI to move past former teammate Matt Kemp for fifth in L.A. franchise history (648). ... Entering Sunday's game, Dodger starters lead the National League in May with a 3.04 ERA.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| LA Dodgers
|
2 |
1 |
5 |
.069 |
10 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| St. Louis
|
8 |
1 |
11 |
.296 |
9 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
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