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St. Louis pitcher Carlos Martinez found his rhythm early Charles Leno Jersey , both on the mound and at the plate.

It was another encouraging sign for the right-hander, who struggled through a rough May and wound up on the disabled list for the first time in his career.

Martinez pitched seven effective innings for his third consecutive win and doubled in the Cardinals‘ first run in a 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Saturday.

”You could tell he found something in the `pen that he carried right onto the mound in the first inning,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. ”That’s a great place for him to be and he just kept building on it. Now it looks just like he was before he got hurt.”

Martinez missed 23 games while sidelined with a right lat strain and was only marginally effective upon his return. In his last three starts, however, Martinez has a 2.36 ERA while allowing five runs in 19 innings.

”Right now my arm is great so I don’t have any pain in there,” Martinez said. ”I have focus always and I believe in myself.”

Martinez allowed one run on six hits with three strikeouts and did not walk a batter for the third time this season.

Kolton Wong had two hits and scored a run, disgruntled outfielder Dexter Fowler added a sacrifice fly and Francisco Pena singled in a run.

Martinez (6-4) was steady most of the afternoon and only allowed one runner past first base until the sixth inning. He got Brandon Belt to pop out with a runner on third in the first, stranded runners on base in the second and fourth and then got Brandon Crawford to ground out after Belt’s RBI double in the sixth.

Jordan Hicks allowed a run in the eighth and Bud Norris retired three batters for his 17th save.

”The last outings I’ve had really good focus and I’m comfortable with myself,” Martinez said. ”All my pitches are moving Blake Bortles Jersey , and today I was trying to throw right in the middle because I’ve got a lot of movement on my two-seamer and my cutter.”

Belt had three hits and drove in both runs for the Giants. San Francisco has been held to two runs or fewer in five of its last six games.

Jeff Samardzija had an uneven outing in his first start since May 29. Activated off the disabled list before the game, Samardzija (1-5) gave up three runs in five innings and repeatedly pitched with runners on base.

”The mistakes aren’t because of the arm,” Samardzija said. ”They’re just because of the execution of the pitch, and that’s always a good thing.”

FOWLER’S FUNK

Fowler went 0-for-3 to drop his batting average to .168. Earlier this week, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak appeared to question Fowler’s effort but later backed off those comments.

”That’s a big run right there,” Matheny said, adding that Fowler has been taking better at-bats. ”I know he’s looking for results right now and the fact that we can get a run in, that’s a result. But I know he’s looking for some hits to fall in, just like everybody else.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Yadier Molina was given the day off after experiencing soreness in his right shoulder. LHP Tyler Lyons (elbow strain) began his rehab assignment and threw 13 pitches in one scoreless inning for Triple-A Memphis. Lyons has been out since June 6. RHP Luke Gregerson (shoulder impingement) threw nine pitches in a rehab appearance with Double-A Springfield.

Giants: 2B Joe Panik was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain he injured while running from first to third during Friday’s game. Closer Hunter Strickland (broken hand) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. INF Chase d’Arnaud was called up from Triple-A Sacramento and RHP Chris Stratton was optioned down.

UP NEXT

Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (1-3 Dion Sims Jersey , 2.58 ERA) pitches the series finale Sunday against Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (3-4, 3.19). Bumgarner has lost five of his last six starts against St. Louis. Flaherty allowed five runs in four innings during his only career appearance against San Francisco in 2017.

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Tom Wilson’s aggression helped propel him from fourth-line grinder into a difference-maker who skates alongside Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

His teammates feed off the edginess of his play. His coach loves his tenacity.

”There are very few Tom Wilsons in the league,” Barry Trotz said.

And in Game 4 of Washington’s increasingly prickly Eastern Conference semifinal against Pittsburgh, there won’t be any at all.

The league suspended Wilson three games for his run-in with Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese that left the rookie with a concussion and a broken jaw.

Aston-Reese was skating in front of the Washington bench when Wilson’s left shoulder hit some combination of Aston Reese’s shoulder and jaw in the middle of the second period.

Following a brief conference among the on-ice officials, Wilson was not penalized on the play and the Capitals used it as a rallying point on their way to a dramatic 4-3 victory that gave them a 2-1 series lead.

The league, however, suspended Wilson following a hearing on Wednesday, ruling the hit was illegal. The league considered Aston-Reese’s head the initial point of contact and called the incident avoidable.

The decision means the Capitals are now forced to push the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink of elimination without one of their most physical players.

Trotz defended Wilson, who has now been disciplined by the department of player safety three times this season.

”It was a collision Menelik Watson Jersey ,” Trotz said Wednesday before the suspension was announced. ”They hit and to me it looked like body on body. We’ve stopped it, we’ve looked at it, there’s pictures all over the Internet that you can see. He doesn’t leave his feet. It’s body-on-body. … I’m surprised the player has the injury that he has.”

The incident overshadowed the kind of taut and electric play that’s come to symbolize one of the NHL’s top rivalries.

Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins the lead with a goal late in the second period only to have Washington – in a historically un-Washingtonlike move whenever the Capitals face Pittsburgh – beat Matt Murray twice in the third to win, the last coming on Ovechkin bunting in a rebound of his own shot with just 1:07 to play.

”I really believe this year has felt a little bit different,” Washington forward Jay Beagle said. ”Even in season when we would get down a couple goals we could fight back. It seems like we’re never out of it.”

Then again, it’s been 36 months since the Penguins have exited the postseason without the Cup on the team plane.

Pittsburgh has ripped off nine consecutive series victories during its run at the top, and has only trailed after three games once, in last year’s Eastern Conference final against Ottawa.

The Penguins rebounded to win in seven games and there’s hardly any panic. It’s not what Pittsburgh does.

The other thing the Penguins try not to do? Get so caught up in trying to retaliate against Wilson that they forget why they’re out there in the first place.

Defenseman Kris Letang pointed to his team’s antagonist – and entirely legal – response to Wilson in Game 3 as proof.

Jake Guentzel delivered a shot into the end boards. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak basically begged Wilson to fight, but didn’t take it too far when Wilson failed to engage.

”After the whistle we walked away Jim Brown Jersey ,” Letang said. ”There’s not much business to do. I liked our answer.”

The Penguins will need another one if they want to keep their hopes of becoming the first team in 35 years to three-peat alive. They’ve only dropped consecutive games in the playoffs five times in two-plus years and have lost to Washington only once in 10 all-time postseason meetings.

The Capitals have momentum on their side. Pittsburgh has history.

”It’s hard to win in the playoffs and you’re going to go through ups and downs and emotional highs and emotional lows,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. ”And it’s all about how you handle those and respond. … Right now our eyes are on Game 4.”

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UNDISCIPLINED OR PLAIN SLOPPY?

The Nashville Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy despite leading the NHL in penalty minutes. They had played with much more discipline until melting down with three consecutive penalties helping turn a 3-0 lead after the first period into a 7-4 loss and a 2-1 deficit to the Winnipeg Jets.

Now Nashville faces a challenge on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. ET NBCSN) in their Western Conference semifinal to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination in the best-of-seven series.

”We have a smart group,” Predators center Ryan Johansen said Wednesday. ”We understand what we did wrong and what needs to be done.”

Not only did the Predators not help themselves with five penalties – three in the third after tying the Jets at 4-4 – they didn’t play well after grabbing a big lead.

”We just sat back too much,” Predators forward Filip Forsberg said. ”Obviously they scored a goal early and after that we just became passive and, yeah, I don’t think it would have mattered which team we were playing. If we play like that, we’re going to get scored on.”

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WHERE’S PHIL?

Penguins forward Phil Kessel set a career high with 92 points during the regular season, but has just one secondary assist through three games of the series and – perhaps more troubling for Womens Durham Smythe Jersey