Wainwright pitches two-hit shutout, Cards top Pirates 4-0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Wainwright extended his dominance of Pittsburgh with a complete game, two-hit shutout and helped himself with a pair of hits as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pirates 4-0 on Wednesday night.
The 39-year-old Wainwright allowed a pair of singles by Colin Moran in the second and fifth innings, and then retired the last 15 batters.
Wainwright (11-6) needed just 88 pitches to record the 11th shutout of his 16-year career and first since 2016. He struck out seven and did not issue a walk.
Wainwright’s gem came a night after Cardinals left-hander J.A. Happ and three relievers combined to one-hit the Pirates, who have lost seven straight games and 17 of their last 22.
Wainwright won his fourth straight start, and he has been the winning pitcher in each of his last six starts against the Pirates. He has also won eight consecutive decisions versus the Pirates since losing to Pittsburgh on opening day in 2016.
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Wainwright doubled in the fifth and hit an RBI single an inning later. He came into the game hitting .028 this season, with one hit in 36 at-bats. He raised his lifetime batting average at PNC Park to .372 (16 for 43).
Wil Crowe (3-7) gave up one run and four hits in 4 2/3 innings while striking out four and walking three.
Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the fourth inning opened the scoring. Paul DeJong hit a two-run double to the right-center field gap in the sixth inning, and Wainwright added his run-scoring single to increase the Cardinals’ lead to 4-0.
Molina and DeJong had two hits each, while Paul Goldschmidt singled and drew three walks. DeJong entered the series in a 3-for-29 slump, but also hit a home run Tuesday in the series opener.
MOLINA MOVES UP
Molina moved into fifth place on the MLB career innings caught list with 17,377 2/3, passing Hall of Famer Gary Carter. Next up is Jason Kendall with 17,478 innings.
AT HOME IN PITTSBURGH
St. Louis has won nine games in a row in Pittsburgh and manager Mike Shildt has a 19-3 career record at PNC Park. The .864 winning percentage in the highest in MLB history for a manager with at least 20 decisions in a ballpark.
LONG TIME AGO
The one-hitter Tuesday night marked the first time the Cardinals held the Pirates to one hit or less in a game in Pittsburgh since Hall of Famer Bob Gibson’s no-hitter in 1971 at Three Rivers Stadium.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (right forearm tightness) is scheduled to make a fifth and final minor league rehab start Friday, this time for Double-A Springfield. Mikolas has pitched twice each for Triple-A Memphis and Springfield, allowing seven runs combined on 18 1/3 innings. … LF Tyler O’Neill returned to the lineup after sitting out Tuesday following his second COVID-19 vaccination shot.
Pirates: LF Ben Gamel (right hamstring) is progressing well in his rehab and could be activated from the injured list next week. … LHP Sam Howard (right knee tendinitis) threw live batting practice Wednesday for the first time since being placed on the IL on July 13.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals look to sweep the three-game series Thursday afternoon with LHP Wade LeBlanc (0-2, 4.02 ERA) opposing RHP JT Brubaker (4-11, 4.95).
LeBlanc pitched a season-high six innings in a no-decision against Atlanta in his last start. Brubaker is 0-7 with a 6.23 ERA in his past 10 outings since May 29.
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