ST. LOUIS _ Saturday was a big bounce-back day for the Cardinals in their NL Central battle with the Cubs.
The Cardinals took down the Cubs, 5-3, to send this series to a pivotal rubber game Sunday. Carlos Martinez pitched effectively for 6 2/3 innings, allowing the three runs on five hits and four walks for his third win of the season.
Saturday's win came before a crowd of 47,882 _ largest in Busch Stadium III history _ and with a largely different cast of characters than usual. Regular starter Randal Grichuk received the day off and was replaced by Magneuris Sierra in right field, while Tommy Pham continued to start in place of the injured Stephen Piscotty.
Pham and Sierra combined to go 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBIs.
The Cubs got on the board first in the second inning when starting pitcher Jon Lester doubled in Javier Baez. It was Lester's fourth career hit against Martinez.
In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals came right back thanks to a bunt single by Martinez. He drove in Pham to tie the game at 1-1.
The fourth inning was when the Cardinals really took control. They went out in front, 2-1, thanks to Jedd Gyorko's seventh home run of the season, and Yadier Molina came around to score on a Pham single a few batters later.
With the score 3-1, Martinez started to settle in nicely. The Cardinals starter did not allow a hit between the third and fifth innings.
The bottom of the sixth featured two more Cardinals runs, thanks again to Pham and Sierra. Greg Garcia walked with two outs and was doubled home by Pham, who was then in turn driven in by Sierra for his first major league RBI. The Cardinals led 5-1 heading to the seventh.
After his strong start, Martinez faltered in that inning, allowing a two-out, two-run home run to rookie Ian Happ, cutting the lead to 5-3. Martinez was removed after the blast.
But Matt Bowman, Trevor Rosenthal and Seung-Hwan Oh combined to throw 21/3 innings of scoreless relief to close out the game. Oh nearly served up a game-tying two-run home run to Kyle Schwarber, but the fly fell short into Dexter Fowler's glove at the warning track.
Sunday's rubber game will feature Adam Wainwright and Jake Arrieta as the starting pitchers.
