St. Louis Cardinals win 6-4 over the New York Mets

The St. Louis Cardinals won 6-4 against the New York Mets on Wednesday.
Mar 7, 2014; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez throws against the New York Mets in spring training action at Tradition Stadium. Image Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
Carlos Martinez helped himself when it came to battling his teammates for a spot in the Cardinals pitching rotation. He went four innings and allowed only two hits while striking out three batters. Whether it will help in the long run to determine how he will contribute this season remains to be seen. What does help is that the Cardinals finally got a win after losing several games this spring.

Martinez has only allowed two runs in ten innings pitched this spring for a 1.80 ERA. His preference would be to start.

“It’s a question still to be determined,” pitching coach Derek Lilliquist told reporters. “We know what Carlos can do in the eighth inning. We’re kind of watching to see how he handles himself as a starter.

“At some point in his career, he’s going to be a dynamite starter. But what makes the Cardinals a better team this year?”

The Cards were able to score twice after a few ground outs off of pitcher John Lannan.

Stephen Piscotty has been on a tear of late with four extra-base hits and five RBIs in three days. Piscotty added a double and triple today. His triple came just prior to Kolten Wong‘s seventh-inning home run. The home run was Wong’s second in as many days.

Pat Neshek worked some of the seventh inning and he very well could break camp with the Cardinals rather than head to Memphis in April.

Manager Mike Matheny expects to use a 6-man rotation during the second half of the spring games. Martinez has done all he can to show that he deserves to start. It’s just a matter of whether he will be afforded the chance to do so at the start of the season. At the moment, Joe Kelly might be the long man in the bullpen. In two games this spring, he is 0-1 with a 15.75 ERA after four innings pitched.

Trevor Rosenthal has been an early riser like teammate Matt Carpenter this spring.

Jake Westbrook is adjusting to retirement.