By Rick Hummel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch –
ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright, wearing his beltless pants high with the red socks showing, in part to honor of the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals who were on hand, went old-school on the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
First, Wainwright pitched nine innings, almost unheard of these days, and rushed through the match in a throwback time of 2 hours 19 minutes. Wainwright also had two hits, one a run-scoring double, conjuring up images of days when starting pitchers actually could swing the bat.
Wainwright’s double actually provided the winning run as the Cardinals rode a four-run third inning to a 6-1 win over the sagging Brewers. After a horrible start hitting, Wainwright has gone four for his last nine and nudged his average over .100 at .136.
But, his best work was done on the mound, where Wainwright is getting ever closer to the .500 mark he hasn’t seen this season. After allowing a leadoff double that turned into a run in the Brewers’ first, Wainwright (9-10) allowed four harmless singles the rest of the way.
Finishing his work in 98 deliveries, 73 of them strikes, as he faced only three batters above the minimum, Wainwright fanned seven and walked nobody, establishing his fastball, the location of which had been troublesome for him lately.
“I don’t think you could ask him to do anything else,” said manager Mike Matheny. “In the past, we’ve seen a lot of breaking balls kind of be the difference-maker but I thought he was an artist with his fastball tonight. You could tell he was really locked in.”
Wainwright, working with pitching coach Derek Lilliquist in Colorado during a recent bullpen session to prep for this start, estimated he threw 35 to 40 straight fastballs in that session.
“The proof was in the pudding a little bit tonight,” Wainwright said.
So much so that Matheny didn’t even place a call to the bullpen for one of the few times this season.
Now about those pants …
“It was kind of spontaneous,” said Wainwright. “I was in the training room getting ready to warm up and I looked at Lance Berkman. I had my pants (legs) one down and one up and I said, ‘Which one?’ He said, ‘I like up.’ And Skip (Schumaker) said, ‘Let’s do up.’
“I was easily swayed,” said Wainwright, who also admitted part of it was for his brethren from 30 years ago. “Any time you turn the clock back a little bit, it’s nice to pay a little homage.
“We’re playing good ball right now but it’s always good to do it in front of the legends that have been here.”
The Cardinals’ win was their 11th in their last 15 games as they continue their late-season push, hoping the clubs ahead of them lose at least once in a while. Their standing at nine games above .500 (58-49) matches their high-water mark of the season, achieved when they were 20-11 on May 9.
“We have a great team,” said Wainwright. “If those other guys want to come back to us, that would be great. But we’ll just try to keep winning and see what happens.”
In the Milwaukee first, Carlos Gomez doubled off the tip of the glove of fast retreating center fielder Jon Jay, who thought he should have had the ball even though it was a difficult play. Gomez went to third on Nyjer Morgan’s groundout and scored on Ryan Braun’s sacrifice fly. And that was it for the Brewers.
“Every time he goes out, he gets better and better,” said Jay. “This was an example of him doing what we’re used to him doing. We really need him in this stretch that we have — to come through to our goal, which is to play in October.”
The Cardinals tied the game in the second against Mark Rogers, making his second start of the season for the Brewers. Carlos Beltran tripled — no, upon further review, homered — to lead off the inning. It didn’t take Tim Welke’s umpiring crew long, after looking at replays, to determine that Beltran’s drive to right had hit off the green-painted concrete behind the right-field wall.
The homer was Beltran’s 25th of the season, giving him six seasons of 25 or more home runs.
The Cardinals batted around, and then some, in the third, scoring four runs, two of them knocked in by Yadier Molina, who mixed in his 11th steal of the season.
Daniel Descalso, who hadn’t hit a double since June 21 before getting one on Friday, struck again with a two-base hit to lead off the inning and scored on a double by Wainwright. Wainwright had the leeway to swing if he thought the Brewers’ defense was taking away a potential bunt.
“I really don’t brag about setting the bar at .100,” Wainwright said. “I’d like to get that over .200 before the end of the year. Then, at least I’m respectable.
“As embarrassed as I was at the plate all year, taking horrible swings and taking fastballs down the middle and swinging at curveballs in the dirt, it’s about time I got hits for the team.”
Matheny said, drolly, “His hitting didn’t have anywhere to go but up. We’ve given him a lot of grief about that. But he’s too good a hitter to have the first half he had.”
Allen Craig singled to score Wainwright and there were subsequent singles by Matt Holliday and Beltran, who could have had four hits but for good defense by Morgan in right field. With the bases loaded, Molina, running his hitting streak to eight games, delivered a two-out, two-run hit.
Descalso, who has been outstanding in the field lately at shortstop and second base, made a diving stop and quick throw to retire the speedy Morgan to end the Milwaukee sixth. Wainwright also received outstanding plays from shortstop Rafael Furcal and right fielder Beltran, but Descalso’s recent work has caught Wainwright’s eye.
“Daniel Descalso is amazing,” said Wainwright. “He’s a human highlight reel. It seems like he gets to balls that most guys don’t. And he makes that diving play as good as I’ve seen ever, maybe.”
Jay’s third homer, a drive off Livan Hernandez into the Cardinals’ bullpen in right center, finished the scoring in the sixth. Jay had not homered since April 14 in Chicago.
Of his 17 career home runs, it was the first that had come on the first pitch.
