(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
It was a rough start to the series against the Chicago Cubs for the St. Louis Cardinals. After being shut down by former teammate John Lackey on Monday, they narrowly lost the second game by the score of 2-1 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Carlos Martinez got the start for St. Louis, while Kyle Hendricks got the start for the Cubs, who had won three of their last four and were the first MLB team to 11 wins in 2016.
In the first inning, Anthony Rizzo hit what looked like to be an early home run.
Randal Grichuk, however, had other plans.
The young center-fielder robbed Rizzo of a home run to keep it a scoreless game early on.
“It’s the second robbed homer I’ve gotten to,” Grichuk said. “Definitely being the Cubs in a big game, it’s probably my top one.” During the three hour, 21-minute rain delay, Grichuk joked that he watched the replay of his highlight gem approximately 72 times.
Shortly after, Matt Holliday hit a two-run home run that did not have a chance to get robbed, giving the Cardinals the early 2-0 lead.
As for Martinez, he continued his string of good starts to begin the 2016 season, allowed three hits and one run. In his third quality start of the season, he struck out five and walked three. He improved to 3-0 on the season, which is the best record among Cardinals starters.
“He had more of a feel than straight power,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
Later, in the ninth inning, veteran closer Trevor Rosenthal came out to earn the save, and by doing so, notched his 100th career save.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 8-7 on the season. They play again starting Friday in San Diego, with Adam Wainwright getting the start on the mound for St. Louis.
