Cardinals finally proving they can, in fact, pitch a little bit

7:09 PM ET

MILWAUKEE — Carlos Martinez’s 82nd pitch Monday afternoon was moving at 100 mph when Kirk Nieuwenhuis tried to catch up with it and swung late. He missed it by a wide margin. Martinez’s 100th pitch was going 98 mph when Jonathan Villar swung and hit a lazy fly ball to center field.

Martinez threw a sinker early in the game to Scooter Gennett that also was clocked at 98 mph. It’s hard enough to hit a pitch moving that fast in one direction, let alone another with movement.

“He can reach back and let it eat,” St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Carlos Martinez struck out eight over eight shutout innings Monday against the Brewers. Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports

The Cardinals had a team meeting in Anaheim about three weeks ago, and one of the topics was how much better this starting rotation can be. Martinez did his part with eight shutout innings against the Milwaukee Brewers that resulted in a 6-0 Cardinals win Wednesday. It capped a full turn through the five-man rotation in which each of the starters went at least six innings and had his full repertoire humming.

The Cardinals’ struggles with pitching this season have been both their biggest reason to worry about the remainder of the season and their greatest salvation. It’s worrisome because they have struggled in the most crucial element of the game. In the …

continue reading in source espn.go.com