ST. LOUIS _ Bloodied but unbowed, as they say, Carlos Martinez overcame a two-run deficit after having faced just two batters to post a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday in a makeup game at Busch Stadium from a rainout of the previous night. Only 11,191 of the paid crowd of 40,184 actually were on hand.
Martinez, who had 10 days off between starts, partially because of the All-Star break, was tagged for a 425-foot, two-run homer to the center-field greenery by second baseman Ryan Schimpf in the first inning. That extended the Padres' club record for consecutive games in which they had homered to 17.
In the second inning, Martinez suddenly had a bloody nose and went to a sitting position behind the mound as athletic trainers tended to him. Finally, after a 12-minute delay, Martinez continued with his left nostril plugged with cotton and proceeded to strike out opposing pitcher Colin Rea and went on to allow just one hit after the first inning through the seventh as he scored his ninth victory.
"It's scary when you see a lot of blood coming out of the nose," said catcher Yadier Molina. "But the trainers did a great job holding that blood in."
Third baseman Jedd Gyorko, "I didn't think it was ever going to stop."
Martinez, who said he occasionally has a bloody nose when it's hot _ he had one Wednesday morning _ has permitted eight runs in 47 1/3 innings (1.52 ERA) over his last seven starts.
One of his five strikeouts was on a 98 mile an hour sinker against Christian Bethancourt to end the fifth. "So he had plenty of stuff today," said manager Mike Matheny.
Although it looked as if Martinez lost considerable blood, Matheny said, smiling, "We were going to sit there and plug it until he pitched. There wasn't another option."
While the Padres were extending their home-run streak, the Cardinals cracked three for the second game in succession, including a two-run drive by former Padre Gyorko, who is 10-for-17 with four homers against his old team this year.
Gyorko's homer was his ninth of the season and Matt Holliday hit his 17th and Yadier Molina his first of his career against the Padres and third of this season.
Besides his home run, Gyorko also made two line-drive outs and, at third base, turned in a good, barehand play on a slow roller. Matheny said he would find a way to get him into Wednesday night's nightcap.
"My swing's as good as it ever has been all year," said Gyorko, who is up to .253, his highest since June 7 when he was at .255.
The Cardinals, for the moment, took over the league lead at 130 homers. Asked if he thought the Cardinals would have that much power, Molina, said, jokingly, "Not from me."
"And there's a few players who haven't tapped into it," Matheny said. "Kolten Wong (who has one) is going to hit some home runs."
There were no bullpen follies, as there have been, of late. Kevin Siegrist, flashing a good curveball, pitched a perfect eighth. Seung Hwan Oh gained his third save with a perfect ninth, striking out two.
