Martinez Pitches Cardinals To Win, White Sox Blank Blue Jays

Now it's up to the fans. Carlos Martinez made his case for inclusion on the National League All-Star team by pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday night, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 in a matchup between the teams with the best records in the National League.

Martinez (10-3) scattered four hits and had five strikeouts and three walks in improving to 7-1 with a 1.20 ERA in his last 10 starts.

He is one of the five players contending for the NL's All-Star Final Vote, along with Johnny Cueto, Jeurys Familia, Clayton Kershaw and Troy Tulowitzki. Fan voting ends Friday afternoon, and the game will be played Tuesday at Cincinnati.

St. Louis (56-31) opened a 5 1/2-game lead on the Pirates in the NL Central. Pittsburgh (50-35) had its five-game winning streak snapped in the opener of a four-game series.

White Sox 2, Blue Jays 0

Jeff Samardzija kept the Chicago White Sox on a roll. Samardzija had a four-hitter, Melky Cabrera homered and the White Sox shut out the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0. The White Sox have won seven of nine and are starting to look like the team many thought would contend for a playoff spot this season.

Samardzija (6-4) took care of things against the high-powered Toronto offense. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for a second straight game. It was his first complete game of the season. He struck out slugger Jose Bautista to end the 2 hour, 15-minute game and threw 108 pitches.

"He's got a good, overpowering, live fastball and he's got a great slider," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He threw the slider behind in the count and the good ones can do that. He's easily one of the most sought-after guys out there."

Samardzija, the subject of trade rumors as the deadline approaches, has pitched at least seven innings in seven straight starts, but Thursday was the first time during that stretch he was able to get through the eighth inning. He had just one win during that span before Thursday.

Thursday, July 9 Scoreboard

New York Yankees 6, Oakland 2

Chicago White Sox 2, Toronto 0

Kansas City 8, Tampa Bay 3

St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1

Cleveland 3, Houston 1

Miami 2, Cincinnati 0

Detroit 4, Minnesota 2

Colorado 5, Atlanta 3

Seattle 7, Los Angeles Angels 2

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Philadelphia 0

Friday, July 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Chicago, 3:05 p.m.

Washington at Baltimore, 6:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.

New York at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Oakland at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Arizona at New York, 6:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 6:10 p.m.

Houston at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

San Diego at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Toronto at Kansas City, 7:10 p.m.

Detroit at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Colorado, 7:10 p.m.

Los Angeles at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Milwaukee at Los Angeles, 9:10 p.m.

Philadelphia at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.