Final
Marlins-Cardinals Preview
Aug 16, 2015 - 4:14 AM The St. Louis Cardinals can capture their first season sweep of the Miami Marlins with a victory in Sunday's series finale.With Carlos Martinez taking the ball for the Cardinals and David Phelps pitching for the Marlins, a St. Louis season sweep appears inevitable.
The Cardinals (75-41) moved 34 games over .500 for the first time since finishing 100-62 in 2005 with Saturday's 6-2 victory, their eighth in 10 games.
Stephen Piscotty, the No. 6 hitter, had two doubles and No. 8 batter Mark Reynolds had a three-run homer and a double for St. Louis, which became the fastest team to 75 wins since the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies did it in one fewer contest.
While the Cardinals don't have much trouble winning regardless of who starts, they've been virtually unbeatable with Martinez (12-4, 2.62 ERA) on the mound.
St. Louis is 18-3 in Martinez's starts for an .857 team winning percentage - the best for a pitcher with a minimum of 15 starts. Since May 20, Martinez has the majors' fifth-best ERA at 1.76 with the Cardinals winning 13 of his 14 outings.
The right-hander, who also has baseball's fifth-best ERA in day games at 1.47, has won five consecutive decisions as a starter since losing to Minnesota on June 17.
Six days later he made his only career start against Miami, surrendering a two-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton and one other run while striking out nine over seven innings in a 4-3 victory.
If trying to beat Martinez isn't enough of an obstacle for the Marlins (46-70) - losers of 15 of 20 - history is not on their side with Phelps (4-8, 4.35) pitching.
Miami is 5-13 in Phelps' outings for a .278 winning percentage - the lowest for a pitcher with a minimum of 15 starts. The Marlins have lost 11 of his last 13 and skipped his last turn since he is 3 1-3 innings shy of matching last season's career high of 113.
"We just want to make sure we are smart on how we approach it," manager Dan Jennings told MLB's official website.
Phelps is also coming off a rough outing, permitting seven runs, eight hits and three walks in 4 1-3 innings of an 8-6 loss to the New York Mets on Aug. 5. The righty had a 3.57 ERA in his previous four starts but received three total runs of support and was saddled with an 0-3 record.
The Cardinals are also being careful with Martinez's innings in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs, but manager Mike Matheny said the 23-year-old right-hander was simply too good to take out Tuesday against Pittsburgh. Martinez allowed three runs while matching career highs of eight innings and 108 pitches in a 4-3 win.
"I feel confident," Martinez said. "This year I came here to work hard, throw as many innings as I can pitch and try to help the Cardinals make it to the World Series."
Like Martinez, Randal Grichuk is another Cardinal who has essentially come out of nowhere and is playing so well the team is already talking about the World Series.
Grichuk hit his 15th homer Saturday and is batting .356 with six home runs and a 1.162 OPS in his last 16 games at Busch Stadium. This will be his first time facing Phelps.
Miami's Ichiro Suzuki unofficially moved into second place on the all-time hit list Saturday, singling in the first inning for his 4,192nd career hit to pass Ty Cobb. Suzuki had 1,278 of his hits in nine seasons for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan.
- MIAMI: 6
ST. LOUIS: 4
Final
Aug 16 5:28 PM - McGehee safe at first on fielding error by second baseman Wong, Hechavarria scored, Mathis to second, McGehee to first.
Marlins 6, Cardinals 4 Top 6, 1 OutAug 16 4:09 PM - Casey McGehee reaches on error. Jeff Mathis to second. Adeiny Hechavarria scores. Fielding error by Kolten Wong.
Marlins 6, Cardinals 4 Top 6, 1 OutAug 16 4:09 PM - Dietrich tripled to right, Mathis scored, Narveson scored, D.Gordon scored.
Marlins 5, Cardinals 3 Top 5, 1 OutAug 16 3:46 PM - Derek Dietrich triples to right field. Dee Gordon scores. Chris Narveson scores. Jeff Mathis scores.
Marlins 5, Cardinals 3 Top 5, 1 OutAug 16 3:46 PM - Narveson safe on sacrifice plus fielder's choice, Hechavarria scored, Mathis to second, Narveson to first.
Marlins 2, Cardinals 3 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 16 3:43 PM - Chris Narveson reaches on a sacrifice bunt to shallow infield. Jeff Mathis to second. Adeiny Hechavarria scores.
Marlins 2, Cardinals 3 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 16 3:40 PM - Heyward homered to right on a 0-0 count, Piscotty scored.
Marlins 1, Cardinals 3 Bot 3, 1 OutAug 16 3:10 PM - Jason Heyward homers to right field. Stephen Piscotty scores.
Marlins 1, Cardinals 3 Bot 3, 1 OutAug 16 3:10 PM - Justin Bour singles to center field. Dee Gordon scores.
Marlins 1, Cardinals 0 Top 1, 2 OutsAug 16 2:25 PM - Dee Gordon singles to shallow center field.
Aug 16 2:16 PM - MIAMI: 0
ST. LOUIS: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Aug 16 2:16 PM
Related News
- Tuesday Open Thread Dec 26
- Vote on the Cardinals next best prospect - 2024 Dec 25
- Cardinals in the Lab: Offseason Tracker Dec 24
- What Would You Do With $33M? (An Open Thread Discussion) Dec 23
- John Mozeliak has not closed the door on the Cardinals adding a starting pitcher Dec 22
- Vote on the Cardinals’ best prospect - 2024 Dec 21
- Let’s Argue! The Cardinals Lineup Dec 20
- Pulled Fly Balls: An Area For Growth Dec 19
- What would it take to get the Marlins’ pitchers? Dec 18
- A Cardinals News Roundup Dec 17
- Saturday SOC: Should the Cardinals Extend Paul Goldschmidt? Dec 16
- Friday Open Thread Dec 15