HOUSTON • In the days between the inning that got away at Wrigley Field and the game that never did Wednesday in Houston, Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez had a series of conversations with his manager and a few players and coaches.
They poured into him encouragement and instruction, how a lack of attention to a little thing — Mike Matheny illustrated this by holding his index figure and thumb an inch apart — had cost him. Leading into the Cardinals’ 8-2 victory against Houston on Wednesday, they described to him all the things that he has done and the few things he must still do.