ST. LOUIS — The root of the Cardinals’ ongoing and consuming doldrums goes deeper than missing pitchers to the misplaced consistency by several pitchers, and the route out of this mess won’t be clear unless the healthy starters expected to carry the innings, do.
For the second time in a week and the second time on this losing streak, Carlos Martinez could not avoid the combustible inning and put the Cardinals behind before they had a chance.
Cleveland scored five runs against Martinez before the end of the third inning and that was plenty for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. The righthander encountered one troublesome inning on his way to a win in Cleveland’s 10-1 rout Tuesday night in an interleague game at Busch Stadium. Cleveland added four runs in the ninth to give the score a fitting hue for the welt rising on the Cardinals’ season this June.
