It seems the St. Louis Cardinals have figured out the missing ingredient for their struggling offense: a designated hitter.
Jose Martinez hit two home runs in a series-opening 5-4 loss to the host Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, then sparked a five-run, ninth-inning rally Wednesday as the Cardinals won 5-2. Pinch hitter Tommy Edman hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer after Martinez led off the inning with a single.
The rubber game of the interleague series is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
“When you get into a situation with the team that needs the offense to do a little bit more, you want to help the team,” Martinez told MLB.com. “The most important thing right now is go out there and hit the ball hard or get on base for the next guy. What matters is being productive and making something happen for the team.”
Of course, being in the National League means the Cardinals only get to use a designated hitter when playing interleague games in American League ballparks.
That’s when they turn to Martinez, who is hitting better than .300 in 16 career games as a DH.
“(Martinez) understands every situation is a situation,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s got the understanding and ability to execute what those situations call for. We need more of that through the lineup, quite honestly. He’s smart and he can help other guys around him.”
The Cardinals have finally started to show their power stroke after hitting an NL-low 26 home runs in June. Backup catcher Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer in extra innings Sunday in San Diego as the Cardinals snapped a five-game losing streak. Yairo Munoz hit a tying two-run homer against the Mariners on Tuesday in addition to Martinez’s two solo shots.
“We got to put the ball out of the ballpark and in a gap more consistently,” Shildt said.
Mariners right-hander Austin Adams earned his first major league victory in relief Tuesday and had a chance for his first save Wednesday before the Cardinals rallied to send him to his first career loss.
Adams was designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals in May and picked up by the Mariners. Adams appeared in nine games over three seasons with the Nationals.
“It’s fun going out and pitching against the best in the world,” he told MLB.com after Tuesday’s game. “I’ve been used in a lot of different situations this year. I mean, with the Nats it’s if we were losing by 15, I was in. Here I’ve opened, I’ve come in in blowouts, I’ve come in when we were blowing people out. I’ve come in a lot of situations. Pitching is pitching and I try to just keep it at that.”
The Mariners plan to use a reliever as an opener in the series finale before handing the ball to veteran left-hander Tommy Milone (1-2, 2.95 ERA).
While Milone doesn’t have a decision in four appearances following an opener, he has a 1.99 ERA in those situations, allowing two walks and striking out 15 in 22 2/3 innings. Milone is 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA in three career appearances against St. Louis, all starts.
The Cardinals are set to start right-hander Michael Wacha (5-4, 5.30). Wacha suffered a 3-1 loss at San Diego in his last outing despite allowing just two runs on six hits in seven innings. He’s 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in one career start against Seattle.