Martinez, homers carry Cards past deGrom, Mets

ST. LOUIS — Grasping for ways to correct their poor and puzzling home record, the Cardinals leaned on two of their most reliable sources on Wednesday. With punches of power from the offense and another dazzling performance from budding ace Carlos Martinez, the Cardinals coasted to an 8-1 victory to even their three-game series with the Mets.

The win allowed the Cardinals, now 29-34 at Busch Stadium, to maintain their 1 1/2-game lead over the Marlins for the second National League Wild Card spot. It also created a bit of separation from the Mets. New York stands 4 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in that race.

In a matchup of two of the league’s top starters, only Martinez looked like one. He logged his fourth eight-inning start of the season and did so quite efficiently (97 pitches). Martinez limited the Mets to one run on four hits and worked around three walks with a pair of double plays to lower his ERA to 3.13. Over his last two starts, Martinez has held opponents to two runs in 15 innings.

It’s a trajectory far different than the one Mets starter Jacob deGrom is on. After giving up eight runs on 13 hits in his last start, deGrom served up 12 hits — including three home runs — over 4 2/3 innings on Wednesday. Matt Carpenter’s leadoff homer promptly extended the Cardinals’ home run streak to 13 games. Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty later added long balls for insurance. It had been exactly one year since deGrom had last surrendered three homers in a start.

The Cardinals finished the evening with 19 hits, tying the team’s season high.

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