PHOENIX _ Past the midpoint of the season and venturing west for what feels like a pivotal trip, the St. Louis Cardinals arrived in the desert with a notice from the front office that the team should be tired of all the travel that's taken them "one step forward and two steps back."
It should be no surprise who pushed them 360 feet in the right direction.
In his first series against Arizona and manager Torey Lovullo since coarse language thrown his way led to a skirmish at home plate, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina homered and had two other RBIs Monday night at Chase Field.
His two-run single in the first inning gave the Cardinals the lead, and his home run helped cap the 6-3 victory against the Diamondbacks. Both came just hours after Lovullo approached Molina in person to apologize for a vulgar remark he made and has since, repeatedly, said was not meant to be an insult to Molina.
It's become common for Molina to respond to taunts, boos and other such moments. The ballpark where he's had some of his best games, Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, is also where he was booed _ as an All-Star. On the most recent road trip, the Cardinals were foundering and he pulled the team to a reset victory with what his manager called "one of the best games" of his career. Monday night, fresh from being swept by the Atlanta Braves at home and looking into the abyss of a .500 record, Molina nudged the Cardinals forward.
It's a step. It's how all journeys start.
The Cardinals' four early runs off lefty Robbie Ray set the stage for righthander Carlos Martinez's steadiest start since returning from the disabled list. Arizona tested him with three hits from the first three batters, but Martinez didn't yield and completed six innings. He held Arizona to two runs on six hits and struck out seven. Closer Bud Norris followed through on his promise to ride Arizona's bullpen cart into the game _ and then promptly retired the Diamondbacks in order for his 16th save.
Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had four of the Diamondbacks' nine hits to tie a career best. He has done that 13 times. But on Monday he was stranded thrice, and he did not score a run until the eighth inning.
Although he openly wished Monday that it would come with the first pitch Martinez (5-4) threw, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny acknowledged that it could come at any time.
They'd know it when they saw it: rhythm.
For much of the season _ and really, much of his career _ the Cardinals have tried to work with Martinez to figure out the first inning and find out why some games he comes out in control and others it takes him several innings, if he ever does at all. During the Cardinals' atrocious loss two weeks ago in Milwaukee, Martinez lost his hold on the game early, and the Cardinals unraveled around him. Since returning from the disabled list, he has had some of his shortest and most inconsistent outings, and his ERA doubled from 1.62 to 3.22 in five games.
"It's obvious to all of us when he hits it," Matheny said. "Oh, he's locked in. He's in his rhythm, into his groove, and watch out."
It didn't come immediately Monday as the first three Diamondbacks he faced struck for singles. Jon Jay hit a hot shot to third base that was initially ruled an error on third baseman Jedd Gyorko. It was later switched to a hit. That made the run against Martinez in the first inning earned, but he quickly unplugged anything more. The "rhythm" may have come four batters in with a fly out, or five batters in with a strikeout. More likely, it came in the second inning as Martinez zipped through the bottom of the Diamondbacks' order with two strikeouts.
From there it was rare to see a ball leave the infield.
He allowed a run in the fifth inning on Goldschmidt's two-out RBI single, and he momentarily threw from the windup with a runner at first base in the sixth inning. A quick visit from Molina corrected that and Molina put the exclamation on his second consecutive quality start with a strikeout. The pitch left his fingers at 98 mph before reaching Molina's glove. Rhythm, indeed.
"I would imagine that the league kind of sees that you're going to know a lot in the first inning if he came out of the (bullpen) with that rhythm," Matheny said before the game. "That's part of the philosophy _ getting after him early. If you don't, might not get to him. A lot of guys have the exact same scouting (report). Just the rhythm, control the emotion, controlling the adrenaline, and getting into that good slot. He's been progressively finding it quicker."
What they knew was possible with Martinez, the Cardinals seemed to actualize against Arizona lefty Ray (3-1).
In Ray's second start back from an oblique strain that is similar to the one Michael Wacha has, the Cardinals greeted the lefty with early, aggressive swings, and often. Matt Carpenter drilled the first pitch of the game for a double. Two batters later, rookie Tyler O'Neill hit Ray's first pitch to him for a single. Eight pitches into the start and Ray had allowed two hits and a walk and had the bases loaded. He did not have an out. Five of the Cardinals' first seven batters hit the fourth pitch or earlier against Ray.
Molina's two-run single in the first inning made sure the Cardinals wouldn't waste the bases-loaded opportunity. Gyorko followed with an RBI single, and Yairo Munoz hit an RBI double to extend the scoring for a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Martinez was on deck before he was on the mound.
With the lineup Monday, the Cardinals appeared to address two questions that followed them west for this seven-day trip: how they would spur an inconsistent infield defense and stoke more production from largely absent outfield offense.
Jose Martinez is at the nexus at both. The first baseman, who has struggled at the position, could see some time in right field during the coming series. He did not start there Monday, getting a break despite the lefty Ray being on the mound. O'Neill got the start and batted third so as not to disrupt the other spots in the order, Matheny said. Even against the lefty, he stuck with Kolten Wong, a superior defensive player, and was rewarded with two snazzy double plays that defanged Arizona threats.
