Cardinals embrace intangibles in ‘statement’ loss to Cubs

8:02 PM ET

ST. LOUIS — They have determination, they have grit. What they don’t have so far is starting pitching. Wins seem more closely correlated to the latter than the former.

The St. Louis Cardinals walked away from their second encounter with the first-place Chicago Cubs with another lost opportunity. But after Wednesday’s 9-8 loss in which they nearly rallied out of a five-run hole against the best right-hander in baseball, the Cardinals feel good about the intangibles.

Carlos Martinez did what Michael Wacha had done the night before, nearly getting chased from the game before many of the fans had settled into their seats. But this time, a chewed-up Cardinals bullpen couldn’t pick up the slack, so Martinez was going to have to stand out there and take the abuse to his ERA if he didn’t figure it out.

Starting pitching has been a problem for the Cardinals — as it was Wednesday — but Carlos Martinez found a rhythm against the Cubs and made it through five innings. Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

Not so surprisingly, he did. Martinez finally found a rhythm and managed to get through five innings. Surprisingly, the Cardinals made Jake Arrieta look like a mid-rotation starter, scoring four runs off him in five innings and then continuing to come at Chicago’s solid bullpen until its closer …

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