The Cardinals’ past, present and what would have been their future were all on display Saturday night at Busch Stadium in a tantalizing matchup of righthanded prodigies Carlos Martinez and Shelby Miller, Cardinals teammates until last November.
They ceased being teammates through circumstance, a considerable one that was the tragic death of Martinez’s teammate and good friend Oscar Taveras in a late October auto crash. To replace Taveras in their lineup, the Cardinals had to sacrifice Miller, trading him to Atlanta for right fielder Jason Heyward.
Miller and Martinez opposed each other for the first time Saturday before a sellout house of 45,862, the much unsupported Miller seeking to break an 11-game winless streak and fellow National League All-Star Martinez hoping to pitch an 11th straight quality start.