Carlos Martínez fired six scoreless innings and John Nogowski‘s early home run sparked the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 win Wednesday over the New York Mets.
Making his fourth straight start against the Mets, Martínez rebounded from a five-run, three-inning outing just five days ago. Wednesday marked his longest start and second scoreless appearance in Grapefruit League play.
Martínez forced five groundball outs over the first two innings. He finished the day with eight grounders while striking out five.
Nogowski rewarded Martínez in the bottom of the second inning, launching his second spring home run to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. He has strung together quite a spring in his push for a roster spot, batting .423 with a team-leading .571 on-base percentage.
In only his second outfield start this spring, Nogowski finished with two hits and a walk.