SAN DIEGO • Before Carlos Martinez bounced to the mound Monday for the eighth inning, a shutout in hand, his manager asked him how he felt, if he was OK to press on, if he still felt strong.
On his 15th and final pitch of that inning, Martinez hit 98.5 mph.
“I think that was for me,” Mike Matheny said.
With both velocity and ferocity, Martinez held his grip on the game through nine brisk innings, left his manager without any questions, and finished with the most-dominant start of his career.
The Cardinals righthander struck out 10 and held San Diego to three hits in a 2-0 victory at Petco Park.