Martinez falters again, Cardinals fall 11-7 to Diamondbacks

ST. LOUIS -- The last time Carlos Martinez faced the Arizona Diamondbacks, he dominated. Since then, it's been nothing but scuffles for the St. Louis Cardinals' right-hander.

Martinez allowed four runs in five innings in an 11-7 loss on Friday night, and lost his fourth straight start. Since allowing three runs in eight innings at Arizona on April 26, he has surrendered 13 earned runs in 20 innings.

"My command was a little bit off, but overall I felt good," the 24-year-old Martinez said through an interpreter. "I think it's just a matter of finding a rhythm and control, but overall I feel mentally stable and I try to keep a positive attitude."

Martinez had a 1.93 ERA after the victory at Arizona. His ERA is now 3.56, and things could have been worse had center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker not saved two runs with a diving catch near the warning track to end the first, denying Brandon Drury extra bases.

Martinez walked two in the first when he threw 15 strikes and 15 balls.

"He gets two outs in nine pitches and ends up throwing 30 to get through the first, and it adds up," manager Mike Matheny said.

Martinez retired the side in order in the second, third and fourth, benefiting from double plays in all three innings, but gave up two runs on three hits in the fifth.

"It looked like he started to get in a good rhythm, good tempo and stuff looked good," Matheny said. "Just one of those days."

The rotation has struggled overall. Ace Adam Wainwright has a 5.92 ERA, Mike Leake is at 4.66 and Michael Wacha is at 4.03.

"The talent we know is there, the consistency is what we're searching for," Matheny said. "We'll go on a run where our starting pitching just carries us, we know that."

Reliever Jonathan Broxton also had a rough day, charged with five runs in one-third of an inning in the eighth. Infielder Ruben Tejada made his major league pitching debut in the ninth, surrendering consecutive homers to Chris Herrmann and Drury.

Patrick Corbin struck out seven and Herrmann had three RBIs for the Diamondbacks.

Michael Bourn and Chris Owings added two RBIs apiece for the Diamondbacks, who are 13-7 on the road and 7-17 at home. They pulled away with seven runs over the last two innings and have won nine of 10 road series openers dating to last September.

Corbin (2-3) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings with four walks. The left-hander had been 0-2 in his previous five starts.

Jean Segura had an RBI with two hits and has 10 in five games against St. Louis this season. He has hit in 10 straight on the road.

Aledmys Diaz had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who scored five runs in the ninth to make it semi-close. Rookie Jake Barrett got the final out for his first career save.

Big outs

Corbin has limited No. 3 hitters to two hits in 24 at-bats with no extra-base hits, including three at-bats by Matt Holliday without getting a ball out of the infield.

Trainer's room

Cardinals: OF Randal Grichuk (back) was out of the lineup but walked as a pinch hitter in the seventh. ... SS Jhonny Peralta (thumb) began a rehab assignment and played four innings for Class A Peoria, going 0 for 2.