, celebrating his 26th birthday, lasted 6 1/3 innings on a muggy night with a gametime temperature of 85 degrees, allowing four runs and nine hits.''Carlos was OK,'' Molina said. ''His location was up sometimes, and they took advantage, but all in all, he was OK.'' Martinez improved to 3-1 in his last four starts. He gave up Phillip Ervin's two-run homer in the fourth and a drive by Schebler in the seventh.Schebler led off the ninth with a homer, his 29th of the season.''I got that first one pretty good,'' Schebler said. ''Martinez got a couple pitches in on me. The last at-bat, he just threw me a pitch where I was expecting it.'' Homer Bailey (5-9) became the third consecutive Reds starter to be lifted without getting through five innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings. Manager Bryan Price pinch-hit for him with two runners on and two outs in the fourth.''Homer got the first two outs on three pitches,'' Price said. ''It was labor-intensive after that. I don't think he threw the ball bad. It was tough to take Homer out. He had pitches left on the table. In that situation, I had to take a shot.'' ''It was Bryan's decision and it's not mine to question,'' Bailey said. ''I was battling, for sure. I didn't get any breaks, a double play or a borderline pitch, but that's not an excuse. Sometimes you can get through if you get a break here or there.'' Fowler doubled and scored on Jose Martinez's single in the first, then hit a two-run double over Ervin's head in center in the third and later scored on Molina's sacrifice fly.Molina added an RBI double in the seventh.SCOTTY SPARKPLUGSchebler batted leadoff for the Reds for the first time this season and fifth time in his career. He was 0 for 3 before his two homers, his third career multihomer game and second of the season.DEEP BENCHThe Cardinals recalled switch-hitting infielder Breyvic Valera from Triple-A Memphis before the game. That lifted to 11 the number of extra position players available to Matheny.POOCH PARADEThe announced attendance of 14,903 didn't include the dogs who accompanied their owners as part of the Reds' fourth ''Bark in the Park'' Night of the season.TRAINER'S ROOMCardinals: 1B Jose Martinez returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday's game while nursing a sore left thumb.Reds: Hopes that C Devin Mesoraco might be able to squeeze in some pinch-hit at-bats before the end of the season were dashed as his fractured left foot hasn't healed quickly enough.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (12-8) allowed five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over eight innings in his last start against Pittsburgh, a 7-0 win on Sept. 10. He starts when St. Louis visits the Pirates on Friday night.Reds: RHP Sal Romano (5-6) allowed five hits with no walks and six strikeouts over eight shutout innings in his last start, a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on last Saturday. He'll pitch against the visiting Red Sox on Friday night.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Cardinals send out Martinez to face Reds 2h ago• 2 min read CINCINNATI -- St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez will celebrate his 26th birthday on Thursday.Manager Mike Matheny believes there is still plenty of untapped potential in Martinez's arm. The key is consistency, something that has eluded Martinez at times during his four big league seasons.Martinez will make his 31st start of the season Thursday night against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park."He is doing a great job taking those steps to get where he is right now," Matheny said. "That next step is consistency of every single pitch. He'll be sailing along, then give up a two-out hit to the pitcher and the inning kind of starts to blow up. That just comes with experience." Martinez (11-11, 3.57 ERA) has 205 strikeouts and 66 walks in 194 1/3 innings."He went from a flamethrower who tried to blow it past guys to a guy who's making quality pitches with movement," Matheny said. "He's not afraid to use off-speed pitches in any count. He should be in the conversation of best pitchers in the game, in my opinion." St. Louis (79-72) is trying to keep its postseason hopes alive. The Cardinals trail the first-place Chicago Cubs by five games in the National League Central and are 2 1/2 games off the pace in the NL wild-card race.Cincinnati (66-86) has hit Martinez hard at times during his career. He is 0-2 with a 7.15 ERA against them in two starts this season and 5-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 18 appearances overall, including seven starts. However, he has pitched well in Great American Ball Park, producing a 2.93 ERA.Reds right-hander Homer Bailey might have finally turned a corner in his comeback season after missing most of the past two years with multiple arm surgeries. Bailey has allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of his past five starts.Since coming back off the disabled list on June 24, Bailey is 5-8 with a 6.86 ERA but has shown signs of getting on track.In his last start on Friday, a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bailey allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches and felt it."Usually at 90 pitches, I have another gear," Bailey said. "It's not like I'm tired out there, but I feel it. I'm still missing those preseason workouts." Bailey is 6-12 with a 5.75 ERA in 22 career starts against the Cardinals. He last faced them on Aug. 6, when he allowed 10 runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings during a 13-4 loss at Great American Ball Park.Cincinnati is 9-9 this season against the Cardinals with one game remaining. The Reds are 5-3 against St. Louis at Great American Ball Park. Losses in the first two games of the series prevented Cincinnati from securing its first season series win over St. Louis since 2011. Cincinnati is 3-3-2 against the Cardinals in the past eight completed series of more than one game.
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