Anthony Rizzo

Neither rain nor Baby Bears can deny Martinez, Cardinals sweep of Chicago

Published Jun. 29, 2015 2:20 a.m. ET

foxsports

ST. LOUIS -- The tests keep coming for Carlos Martinez, and he keeps passing with flying colors.

A new focus and maturity have brought the 23-year-old's immense talent to the forefront, leaving him much more comfortable on the mound. It showed again in the face of some unique challenges in a 4-1 win over the Cubs as Martinez threw six strong innings to lead St. Louis to a sweep with its sixth straight win.

"Every distraction, I think it's a great test," manager Mike Matheny said. "We talked about Miami and just having a lot of family around. Those are good things but can get in the way of how you prepare and how you compete and sometimes wanting to do too much, and that's what this kid's normally guilty of."

The potential distractions began before Martinez even took the mound for a Sunday-night showdown against the Cubs and their top starter so far this season, Jason Hammel. Both right-handers waited out rain that never really came before the first pitch at 7:54, nearly 50 minutes later than scheduled.

A pair of two-out walks on 13 pitches briefly posed a threat, but Martinez locked in and struck out Starlin Castro to end the first inning. Chris Coghlan led off the second with a double and wouldn't even get to third as the next three batters failed to hit the ball out of the infield.

Finally, heavy storms that produced tornadoes not far outside the city arrived in downtown St. Louis, delaying the game for another hour and 43 minutes. Martinez said he kept loose by throwing every five to 10 minutes in the indoor cages, and Matheny said Cardinals pitching coach Derek Lilliquist and bullpen coach Blaise Illsley kept an eye on Martinez.

"When I came back in the third inning, I felt a little weird on the mound because of all the time I waited," Martinez said through a translator. "After that I felt comfortable."

A wild pitch followed Dexter Fowler's double to open the third and a struggling Cubs offense looked poised to do some damage. Instead, despite an Anthony Rizzo sacrifice fly, Martinez struck out two of the next three batters and didn't give up another hit the rest of the way.

Even when Fowler reached on Xavier Scruggs' fielding error with one out in the fifth, Martinez responded by retiring Kris Bryant and Rizzo, the Cubs' two most dangerous hitters. An inning later, Coghlan swung and missed at Martinez's 84th and final pitch, making him the first Cardinal to reach 100 strikeouts this season.

He would have kept going on a normal night, but he said his arm felt like he'd thrown more than 84 thanks to the extra work during the delay. Matheny said the mental fatigue concerned him as much as anything, making it an easy decision to pull Martinez with a 4-1 lead.

"He goes back out there and was real efficient," Matheny said. "We didn't have a delay, we'd keep riding him, but once again his stuff didn't look like it was necessarily faltering late."

It's hard to imagine what, exactly, could bother Martinez, who has posted a 1.30 ERA in eight consecutive starts of at least 6 1/3 innings. The only times he gave up more than one run during that stretch, the St. Louis offense scored four to ensure Martinez still got the win.

His nine wins are one behind teammate Michael Wacha for second in the National League, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta doesn't envy opponents who have to try to figure out a way to hit against Martinez. The fastball that can reach 98 or 99 mph has always been there, but he's become electric by learning when to take something off and improving his curveball.

"He knows how to control the emotion now and the breaking ball is working pretty good," Peralta said. "Everything he's doing right now is working."

You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.