Martinez Stops the Bleeding

(Busch Stadium) After holding off on starting last night’s game to make sure a Carlos Martinez start wasn’t wasted, St. Louis Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny was in no rush to remove his pitcher due to a nosebleed the next afternoon.

“We were gonna sit there and plug it until he pitched–there wasn’t another option,” said Matheny after the Cardinals 4-2 win on Wednesday. “We had doctors start to come down to have some different ideas on maybe how to get it to stop, but no, he needed to pitch.”

The nose bleed for Martinez occurred in the 2nd inning, with the right-hander squatting down behind the mound as blood flowed from his left nostril.

“I woke up this morning with the same issue,” shared Martinez, who was afraid it could happen again during the game. “It always seems to happen to me when it’s really hot outside, but it’s nothing that’s usual or something that’s common in me.”

Cotton and Vaseline eventually got the bleeding under control.

“I told the trainers and like I said, it’s something normal,” said Martinez, who reminded he suffered a nose bleed last season too.

Martinez finished with a line of 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, a walk, and four strikeouts. Both runs came in the 1st inning, before the nosebleed.

“It actually really helped me stay focused after the fact because I was really trying to stay in the game,” explained Carlos, who was aided in the postgame by interpreter Alex Noboa. “I felt like my stuff really got better after.”

It was the 9th game of the season he has thrown at least 7 innings in a game and in six of his last 7 starts, Martinez has allowed two or fewer runs. He also had the benefit of the All-Star break and being pushed back in the rotation to allow for some extra rest before today’s outing.

“I felt really good with the break and the extra night,” said Martinez. “I came back really prepared and I felt like today I could’ve done the nine innings–but I also think it was a good decision by the manager to take me out in the 7th because it was really hot. But I’m always prepared.”

Martinez also beat out an infield single, raising his total to six hits over the last six games (6-14, .429).

GYORKO DOES IT AGAIN

–Though he continues to downplay his performance against his former team, Jedd Gyorko victimized the San Diego Padres again on Wednesday afternoon–hitting a 2-run homer onto the centerfield grass in the 4th inning.

It marked the fourth straight game he has hit a home run against San Diego. He’s batting .588 (10-17) with 7 RBIs during that stretch.

HOLLIDAY NOW 11TH

–Matt Holliday also hit a home run, the 292nd of his career and 153rd as a St. Louis Cardinal. That moves him to 11th on the franchise leaderboard, breaking the tie with Joe “Ducky” Medwick for 11th. Holliday now trails Johnny Mize, who hit 158 while playing for St. Louis.

photo credit: Bill Greenblatt/UPI