Yadier Molina was caught stealing third and Randal Grichuk was thrown out at the plate in the second inning Wednesday. No biggie, as it turned out.
The St. Louis Cardinals matched a season-high with 19 hits, three of which were home runs, as they mauled the New York Mets 8-1 at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals previously had 19 hits on April 11 against Milwaukee.
Stephen Piscotty led the attack with three hits, including his 19th home run. Matt Carpenter and Grichuk also homered to back the fine pitching of Carlos Martinez.
“We had everything rolling tonight,” right fielder Piscotty said.
It was the seventh win in nine games for the Cardinals (67-58), who are battling several opponents for one of the two wild-card spots in the National League.
Most players insist they don’t pay much attention to the standings, but in August and September, the tone changes slightly.
“I sneak a peek here and there,” Piscotty said. “It’s tough. You have two teams going (to the playoffs) and you’re kind of competing against four or five clubs. It’s hard to follow. It’s not like last year, when we were pretty much worrying about the Pirates.
“I think it’s good that there’s more to worry about, but you can’t worry about it. We’ve just got to win every night. Every night you win and a couple of those teams lose, you feel like you’re gaining ground. It’s a good feeling.”
Carpenter batted in the leadoff spot for the first time in nine games and did more than set the table when he homered against Jacob deGrom (7-7) to start the game.
It was Carpenter’s only hit, but it set the wheels in motion.
“That leadoff home run set the tone for us, which is great,” Piscotty said. “It’s just great having him in the lineup because he can do damage at any time. He’s a tremendous hitter.”
And Martinez (12-7) is developing into a tremendous pitcher. The 24-year-old right-hander limited the Mets, one of the teams chasing the Cardinals for a wild-card spot, to one run on four hits in eight innings. He walked three, struck out five and induced inning-ending double plays in the sixth and seventh.
Martinez, who lowered his ERA to 3.13, has emerged as the Cardinals’ most dependable starter and could be the odds-on favourite to start a potential wild-card game.
“I love how our starting pitching sets the tone,” said Matheny, who appreciated Carpenter doing the same with his leadoff homer into the St. Louis bullpen. “Right from the beginning, Carlos was very good. He had almost a continuation of his last outing. It was a different rhythm and a different idea of how he wanted to pitch, but he executed it all night.”
Martinez was coming off an 8-2 victory over Houston on Aug. 17 when he allowed one run in seven innings. In his last two starts, he has permitted two runs on seven hits in 15 innings.
“His changeup and breaking ball were extremely good,” Matheny said. “Guys couldn’t necessarily think along with what he was going to do because he could throw anything at any particular time. He had good movement in the bottom of the zone and guys made the plays on the ground balls.”
Martinez has induced 27 double plays, seven shy of John Denny’s club record of 34 in 1978.
“He’s one of my favourites,” Piscotty said of Martinez. “He works quick, so you’re not out on defence for a long, long time. I think that helps the quality of our at-bats as an offence because we’re kind of conserving energy, in a way. We’re not getting worn out on the field. So give him credit for what the offence did.”

RESULTS
Houston     5     Pittsburgh     4
Milwaukee     7     Colorado     1
Oakland     5     Cleveland     1
Chicago Cubs     6     San Diego     3
NY Yankees     5     Seattle     0
Baltimore     10 Washington     8
LA Angels     8     Toronto     2
Tampa Bay     4     Boston     3 (11 innings)
Miami     3     Kansas City     0
Texas     6     Cincinnati     5
Detroit     9     Minnesota     4
Philadelphia     5     Chicago White Sox     3
St. Louis     8     NY Mets     1
Arizona     10 Atlanta     9 (11 innings)
LA Dodgers     1     San Francisco     0