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ST. LOUIS -- Carlos Martinez says he owes Randal Grichuk dinner after the St. Louis Cardinals' flight lands Thursday in San Diego. The rest of Martinez's teammates owe him something as well after his performance temporarily cooled the red-hot Chicago Cubs.
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Allowing just three hits in seven innings, Martinez enabled St. Louis to avoid a series sweep Wednesday with a rain-delayed 5-3 win at Busch Stadium.
Despite occasional lapses in control -- three walks and five three-ball counts to the game's first 12 hitters -- Martinez struck out five and allowed few hard-hit balls on his way to a 3-0 record.
Grichuk saved him from an early deficit on the first well-struck pitch of the day.
Chicago's Anthony Rizzo appeared to have opened the scoring with a two-run homer to left-center field in the top of the first. But Grichuk ranged over from center and timed his leap perfectly, stealing the homer by catching the ball above the wall for the inning's third out.
"Once I came down and took a step, I knew it was in the glove," Grichuk said.
Perhaps deriving momentum from Grichuk's run-saving play, the Cardinals grabbed a lead they never gave up when Matt Holliday lofted a two-run homer into the first row of the left field bleachers in the bottom of the inning.
St. Louis picked up two more runs in the second on a wild pitch that scored Yadier Molina and Martinez's bloop RBI single down the right-field line. Given the early lead, Martinez protected it easily, doing a better job of throwing strike one as the game went along and obtaining more outs on first and second pitches.
"I felt great," Martinez said through an interpreter. "I was able to make some of my pitches and work the outside of the strike zone. I was focused on throwing a good game and giving my team a chance to win."
Rizzo procured a measure of revenge with a 431-foot homer deep into the lower bowl in right that led off the fourth, but Martinez retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced after that, not allowing the two men who reached to get into scoring position.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was impressed with Martinez's increased feel for his pitches.
"He just started making up some pitches, taking a little off, adding a little on, as the game went along," Matheny said.
A three-hour, 21-minute delay before the bottom of the seventh ended Martinez's day and appeared to put his victory in jeopardy. The Cubs (11-4) reached reliever Seung Hwan Oh for two runs in the eighth on Rizzo's run-scoring single to right and a fielder's choice grounder by Kris Bryant.
However, Molina delivered an insurance run in St. Louis' half of the eighth with an RBI single to left that scored Grichuk, who walked and moved into scoring position when reliever Adam Warren's pickoff attempt skittered away into foul ground.
Trevor Rosenthal closed dominantly in the ninth, striking out the side on 12 pitches for his fourth save of the season and the 100th of his career.
Kyle Hendricks (1-2) allowed seven hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings, walking two and whiffing five as he became the first Chicago starter not to last at least six innings.
But manager Joe Maddon couldn't complain too much after his team took two of three against its archrival on the road.
"I was really impressed with the way we went about our business," Maddon said. "Any game against your division is big. Two out of three is fine."
As for the Cardinals (8-7), they snapped a five-game losing streak against their main divisional rivals -- the Cubs and Pittsburgh -- while finishing their first homestand at 5-4.
Grichuk and Martinez can enjoy that over dinner Thursday night in San Diego.
"I owe him dinner," Martinez said, laughing.
NOTES: Dating to Sept. 15, 2015, Chicago entered Wednesday's game having won 16 of its last 17 regular-season road games. ... St. Louis RHP Seung Hwan Oh is the second National League pitcher to start a season with no runs and at least one strikeout in his first seven games. The Dodgers' Kenley Jansen did it in 2014. ... Cubs starting pitchers came into Wednesday's game with 11 straight quality starts and 13 in their first 14 games.
