Carlos Martinez \ (file photo/Bill Greenblatt, UPI)
Carlos Martinez pitched six innings of one-run ball and the St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 4-1 win on a rainy Sunday night at Busch Stadium.
The hottest team in baseball overcame more than two hours of delays to win their ninth straight home game for the first time since 2009.
Martinez (9-3) stayed warm during the delay by throwing practice pitches in the tunnel every 15 minutes, and he managed to get through six innings with just 84 pitches. He gave up a run on two hits with six strikeouts.
Cubs starter Jason Hammel (5-3) also made it through the delay, but was roughed up for four runs over four-plus innings.
Chicago, which finished 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, has dropped five straight games.
Xavier Scruggs plated the game’s first run with an RBI single to center in the bottom of the second inning. Chicago answered a half-inning later on Anthony Rizzo’s sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals surged ahead in the home fourth. Jhonny Peralta led off the inning with a two-bagger to right-center, and Jason Heyward followed with his own to make it 2-1. Two batters later, Yadier Molina doubled to the wall in right to score Heyward.
Two more doubles from Kolten Wong and Matt Carpenter in the bottom of the fifth produced another Cardinals run.
The pitchers did the rest. After Martinez struck out two in a 1-2-3 sixth inning, Seth Maness and Kevin Siegrist each tossed scoreless frames. Trevor Rosenthal pitched around a pair of singles in the ninth to nail down his 23rd save.
