No second-guessing, excuses for Garcia outing

MIAMI — It was essentially a do-over for the Cardinals, a second chance to find a way to overcome the wrinkle a doubleheader added to their schedule. Differing decisions, however, led to the same outcome.

Six days after Mike Mayers bungled a spot-start opportunity in his Major League debut, the Cardinals watched another game get out of hand as Jaime Garcia struggled on short rest. He allowed a double on his first pitch and a homer on his 15th, putting the Cardinals in an instant four-run hole that the Marlins only deepened en route to an 11-0 rout at Marlins Park on Saturday.

Garcia’s ineffective 3 1/3-inning start left the Cardinals open to questions about whether starting the lefty on short rest was a prudent move. They were questions that manager Mike Matheny took exception to and characterized as convenient second-guessing.

“Easy to say now,” Matheny retorted. “Anytime somebody doesn’t perform like we know they can, you usually use the variables that you have, and that’s an obvious variable. We made a decision early on. We have five guys that we like to start. We take everything into consideration, and when there’s a short start, we talk to guys and get their input, whether that’s something they’d like to do or …

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