Adam Wainwright the hitter was the catalyst for the Cardinals offense Tuesday night, tallying 3 runs batted in, or 50% of the team total in a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Adam Wainwright the pitcher, however, was only able to get through 6 innings and surrendered 3 home runs and 4 runs, including a monster shot from Starlin Marte that nearly maimed a couple in Big Mac Land.
With the Brewers in an absolute free fall and the Cardinals widening their gap in the NL Central against both Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, it’s hard to go HAM on some nega-nancy. But dang, Wainwright hasn’t been anywhere close to an ace the second half of the season.
Again, 2 game lead. 2 game lead.
The common narrative this weekend and on Labor Day was that Molina’s return behind the plate calling pitches would help get Wain-O back on track. We’ll be looking for a new angle the next 4 days, because Yadi didn’t seem to help matters.
Worse, instead of wondering if a Wainwright meltdown is going to happen in a game, we’ve started to wonder when a Wainwright meltdown will happen.
I just hate it.
It’s too late in the season for a mental day off. And, candidly, I don’t think Wainwright would accept one anyway. So we’re just going to have to cross some fingers (and probably some toes) and hope that his next start is THE start that gets him back to being the second best pitcher in the NL.
In the meantime, 1st place. By two games.
At this pace, the Cardinals should be 30 up by the end of the month.
Photo: Tedellis Sports Photography
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