SAN DIEGO _ With two more games to go on this 10-day, three-city road trip that could have sent them in an entirely different direction, the St. Louis Cardinals have played their way back to the brink of contention.
Jose Martinez has taken the wheel.
The bench bat that the Cardinals couldn't find a reason not to keep on the opening day roster has thrust himself into a more prominent role just as injuries sapped the lineup of some of its bigger, better bats. For the second time in three games, Martinez had three extra base hits. He hit two homers, had a double, and drove home three runs in their 8-4 victory late Tuesday night against the Padres at Petco Park.
Martinez's first home put the Cardinals ahead 2-0. His second homer capped their scoring with their eighth run in the seventh inning. In between, he doubled and scored and drew a walk.
A lot of his damage came against the lefties that the Padres threw at him, from starter Travis Wood to reliever Buddy Baumann. Martinez his home runs off both of them. Nine of his 13 homers this season have come against lefthanded pitchers.
Harrison Bader added a three-run homer and Michael Wacha authored his second quality start on the road trip.
The win threw the Cardinals (71-67) ever closer to two teams ahead of them in the National League Central. Both the Cubs and Brewers lost, allowing the Cardinals to now tie the Brewers in losses and creep four games back of the Cubs. They have seven games remaining against their rivals.
As Wacha's evening ended with six innings and a quality start, Martinez homered for the second consecutive time to extend the Cardinals' lead. They could have had far more offense than they did. The Cardinals ran into three outs on the bases in the first five innings, including twice by Stephen Piscotty. In the fourth inning, Martinez checked his swing and took a two-out walk, but the play caught Randal Grichuk straying from third base. He was thrown out to end the inning _ on a walk. The mishaps were not limited to the bases either.
In the first inning, the Cardinals had a two-run lead due to Martinez's first home run and then helped give it back with an error. Wil Myers slipped a single up the middle to score the Padres' first run and Bader threw wild from center to allow a second run to score. In the odd scramble to retrieve Bader's errant throw, the Cardinals found themselves so out of position that Martinez was covering third by the time things settled down.
Bader would untie the game his error tied with a three-run homer off Padres' starter Travis Wood in the next inning. Wood (2-2) would not see the end of the third inning, though he would double the Padres' scoring with a two-run homer of Wacha.
That was the last extra-base hit Wacha allowed.
