Cardinals beat Brewers on Heyward’s 10th-inning homer, 3-1

MILWAUKEE It was arguably one of the finer games pitched for the Cardinals in the second half of the season, a whirling, twirling gem from right-hander Carlos Martinez.

It just took an extra inning to make the most of it.

Martinez gave the Cardinals everything he had, and it was just enough from Jason Heyward to keep them from more of the same. Heyward’s two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning led to a 3-1 victory Tuesday night against Milwaukee at Miller Park. The game had been tied, 1-1, through nine, and the Cardinals were increasingly in jeopardy of losing on a night when Martinez threw eight innings, struck out nine, and made two sterling defensive plays to keep Milwaukee from pulling ahead.

With one out in the 10th, Heyward turned on a 3-1 pitch from reliever Tyler Thornburg for his 12th homer of the season. Heyward’s third extra-base shot of the evening regained the Cardinals’ three-game lead on Pittsburgh.

Closer Trevor Rosenthal pitched a scoreless ninth for his 44th save.

The Cardinals began Tuesday night’s meeting at Miller Park only two games ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates. It was their slimmest lead in the division since April 29. The Pirates hosted a doubleheader against the third-place Cubs on Tuesday and by winning the first game gained a 1/2 game on the Cardinals. Cubs lefty Jon Lester pitched a complete-game win in the night cap to regain that 1/2-game for the Cardinals.

All they had to do was win and they would gain on the Pirates and have two games melt off Pittsburgh’s schedule. It could have been a win-win.

Martinez gave them everything they could have asked from the tips of his fingers to the swing of his bat and even to the brilliance of his glove.

Rebounding from a stretch of lurching outings, Martinez was at his flamboyant best Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. He buzzed with a 98-mph fastball. He spun to make two excellent defensive plays, including a pickoff for his final throw of the evening. He even laced a double, and he struck out nine in eight innings on his way to his longest start in more than a month. Martinez made one mistake and Khris Davis tagged it for a home run that was the only run he allowed, and it was enough to keep the Cardinals and Brewers in a 1-1 deadlock when he left the game.

The Cardinals young right-hander had seen his ERA climb to higher than 3.00 for the first time since late May because of back-to-back grinds in September.

Since the Cardinals skipped him in the rotation, he had allowed at least three runs in each of his previous two starts and he had failed to reach the sixth inning. Martinez didn’t encounter any such resistance Tuesday night. He retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced before allowing the solo homer. He then promptly retired the next three batters he faced. Martinez got two double plays in his final three innings to keep the game tied, 1-1, and wait for something, anything, anything at all from an offense that continues to slog through September.

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