CINCINNATI _ Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, painfully aware of the Cardinals' lack of sock in the last 10 days or so, had turned to high energy (and production) bench man Jose Martinez on Saturday night.
"This is a time when we need somebody to step up," Matheny said. "And it could be anybody."
Neither Martinez nor the Cardinals got a whole lot done that night although they cobbled together four hits for a 4-1 win. But on Sunday, Martinez, hitting cleanup for only the third time this season, took a huge step. Many others followed.
Martinez set the tone with a second-inning double that led to four runs as the Cardinals erased a three-run homer in the first by Cincinnati's Joey Votto off struggling starter Adam Wainwright. Then, Martinez not only stepped up again but put the hammer down in the fourth when he clouted the first grand slam of his career.
Luke Voit followed with a two-run pinch double and Matt Carpenter, getting his first hit in 14 at-bats on the trip, drove in two more with a triple. Suddenly, it was a nine-run inning for the Cardinals, who had scored two runs or fewer in six of their previous nine games.
Though Wainwright, just having exited the disabled list after encountering back stiffness, didn't benefit, the Cardinals rolled to a 13-4 victory over the Reds, again climbing to one game under .500 as they headed to Kansas City. Brett Cecil got untracked with three scoreless innings to gain the victory as the Cardinals amassed 15 hits, three each by Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong.
Wainwright said he wasn't bothered by his back but he said a cut on the middle finger of his pitching hand suffered on his third pitch of the game had contributed to his fastball not being sharp. "I had no fastball command at all," he said.
Matheny said, "He kept trying to figure it out with his off-speed (pitches). He just took a little more off everything. But he really didn't have the fastball all day."
Wainwright had thrown 38 pitches before getting any outs and he had the bases loaded already down three runs before a Matt Carpenter initiated double play changed the flow.
"It's amazing that he pitched out of that," Matheny said. "Three runs on the first three hitters and then we load them up. That's not real good odds on things turning out well."
Wainwright said, dryly, "A 45-pitch first inning is not how we wanted to come back from the DL, that's for sure. But being ale to get out of that inning with just the three runs gave our offense a chance to go out and do some really great things."
Once Martinez got the offense on the right track, the Cardinals were playing downhill for the rest of the second inning and all of the fourth.
"We needed that big hit, right?" Matheny said. "You guys are tired of hearing me say it but it's a good time to have one."
Martinez is likely to find his way in the lineup, either as a designated hitter, or an outfielder, in the two games in Kansas City Monday and Tuesday.
"It's possible," said Matheny, smiling. "We've going to have to go with whoever's going," Matheny said. "And he's going."
