Cardinals @ Marlins: Carlos Martinez Ks 9, leads to 4-3 victory

We had baseball in south Florida tonight, with Carlos Martinez (2.80 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 3.24 xFIP) and Marlins rookie Jose Urena (4.18 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 4.63 xFIP) taking the hill.

An odd looking lineup tonight with Matt Carpenter getting a breather. Mark Reynolds moved over to man 3B and recent call-up Xavier Scruggs taking 1B duties.

The Game

You see, the thing is:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Life is really good.</p>&mdash; stlCupofJoe (@stlCupofJoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/stlCupofJoe/status/613460502086316032">June 23, 2015</a></blockquote>

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The Cardinals have won 7 of their last 10 and hold a 6.5 game lead in the NL Central. Second place Pittsburgh holds a late 7-6 lead over Cincinnati as I write this.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash">#STLCards</a> @ Marlins game discussion thread: <a href="http://t.co/rBEbR50pLy">http://t.co/rBEbR50pLy</a> <a href="http://t.co/YFcehyaUg5">pic.twitter.com/YFcehyaUg5</a></p>&mdash; viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) <a href="https://twitter.com/vivaelbirdos/status/613479875291271168">June 23, 2015</a></blockquote>

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The home run display is as garish and polarizing as ever, heading into the opening frame.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A hanging slider to Giancarlo Stanton gives the Marlins a 2-0 lead.</p>&mdash; viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) <a href="https://twitter.com/vivaelbirdos/status/613488671883309056">June 23, 2015</a></blockquote>

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And friends, Mr. El Birdos doesn't quite capture the majesty of what happened here. I don't usually link to highlights of the other team, but look at this ridiculous shot. This ball is muderized.

In the 2nd, a Marcell Ozuna double to right coupled with a Adeiny Hechavarria single bumped the Marlins advantage to 3 - 0.

But the game would start to turn in the top of the 4th.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jason Heyward just went second deck in Miami. 104 MPH off the bat. 6-game hitting streak.</p>&mdash; viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) <a href="https://twitter.com/vivaelbirdos/status/613500148128190464">June 24, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Heyward got all of this one and cut the lead to 3 - 1. But home runs aren't always rally killers. Yadier Molina followed up with a single and Jon Jay drew a walk. This set things up for Scruggs to drive them both home on a game-tying double, atoning for a defensive miscue earlier in the night.

Jason Heyward's defense is so good, sometimes it isn't obvious just how good it is.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That catch and throw by Heyward was an excellent play and the announcers treated it like it was routine.</p>&mdash; Imperator bgh (@b_g_h) <a href="https://twitter.com/b_g_h/status/613503739190644736">June 24, 2015</a></blockquote>

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In the top of the 5th we were treated to that rarest of unicorns, a Randal Grichuk lead off walk.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With his 5th walk in 131 plate appearances, Randal Grichuk raised his walk rate to 3.8%. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash">#STLCards</a></p>&mdash; Imperator bgh (@b_g_h) <a href="https://twitter.com/b_g_h/status/613505431365783552">June 24, 2015</a></blockquote>

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And a scary moment in the top of the 7th. Martinez, squaring to bunt, was hit by the pitch on his right shoulder. More of his right deltoid, really. It looked like it hit more muscle than bone or joint. In any case, after writhing on the ground he ultimately took his base and stayed in the game.

That HBP put two on in the tie ballgame, after Scruggs' single. Grichuk was finding all sorts of inventive ways to reach base tonight as he was HBP also. Then Reynolds battled a 7 pitch plate appearance against Sam Dyson which resulted in an infield single off the pitcher's foot, driving home Scruggs and putting the Cardinals ahead for good 4-3.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mark Reynolds pegs Dyson with a 104 MPH comebacker, giving the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash">#STLCards</a> a 4-3 lead in the 7th.</p>&mdash; viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) <a href="https://twitter.com/vivaelbirdos/status/613515579941457920">June 24, 2015</a></blockquote>

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After getting hit, Martinez came back out in the bottom of the 7th and set down the Marlins 1-2-3 capped by a J.T. Realmuto strikeout, where he painted the outside corner over and over again. There was an ICHIRO SIGHTING as well, as he pinch hit for the pitcher.

El Gallo's line: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Cock-a-doodle-doo, baby.

Kevin Siegrist held down the 8th inning, aided by a sweet sliding grab by Heyward on shallow Stanton popup. Kevin allowed a couple of runners after that, but struck out Justin Bour to get out of the jam.

Trevor Rosenthal took care of the save, getting a nifty double play on a Dee Gordon broken bat grounder to end the game.

Bulletpoint

• Tough night for Jhonny Peralta, going 0-5 with 3 K and 2 GIDP.