| Advertisement |
DENVER -- The St. Louis Cardinals have a take-it-to-the-bank certainty about the outcome when Adam Wainwright starts against the Colorado Rockies. It has been a very one-sided matchup through the years and was so again Saturday night when Wainwright muzzled the Rockies in St. Louis' 3-0 victory before a sellout crowd of 48,106.
Advertisement
Wainwright gave up three singles in seven innings, allowed two batters to reach second base and retired the final 10 batters he faced in a 109-pitch outing that included one walk and six strikeouts.
Wainwright (5-3) has won his past eight starts against the Rockies. In 15 career games (10 starts) against Colorado, Wainwright is 10-1 with a 1.56 ERA. And while Coors Field can be cruel on pitchers, it doesn't faze Wainwright. In six games (four starts) there, he is 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA.
"I love pitching here, actually," Wainwright said. "What I like about it is it's as big of a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. What I mean by that is you can very easily let the altitude and the lineup over there, the hotness of those hitters, you can let all that get in your head. It's something that I used to do in the minors very badly was let those things affect what I'm trying to do. I love overcoming obstacles like that. It's mentally as grinding as it is physically here."
Yadier Molina singled home a run in the third to extend his hitting streak to a career-high tying 16 games, and Tommy Pham, who had three hits, belted a two-run homer in the fifth as the Cardinals evened the three-game series in which the teams have traded shutouts. The Rockies won 10-0 on Friday.
Wainwright was at his creative best, changing speeds on his curveball (it ranged from 63 mph to 77 mph), cutter and fastball (88-91 mph), locating precisely and avoiding hard contact.
"It's very similar to how I pitched in 2014," said Wainwright referring to a season where he went 20-9 with a 2.38 ERA, "where if I'm doing things like I want to do, it's very hard for them to tell what's coming, where it's going to be, what speed it's going to be. Maybe it's the same pitch they were thinking, but maybe it's a different speed than they were thinking it was going to be. I like pitching like that."
Once Wainwright left, the Rockies mounted a serious threat against Trevor Rosenthal. He walked pinch hitter Tony Wolters to open the eighth. Pinch hitter Gerardo Parra was safe when first baseman Jedd Gyorko tried to backhand a slow grounder but muffed it. Parra reached base with a head-first slide ahead of Gyorko's toss, which Rosenthal dropped.
He struck out Charlie Blackmon on an 85.7 mph changeup, in sharp contrast to the 99.8 mph fastball Rosenthal threw on the preceding pitch. He struck out DJ LeMahieu on a 99.8 mph fastball but walked Nolan Arenado on nine pitches to load the bases for Carlos Gonzalez, who grounded to second on an 88.9 mph changeup that followed a 100.1 mph fastball.
"It's tough," Gonzalez said. "Wainwright, he pitched really well. He made his pitches. All night throwing slow curveballs, and more and more and more slow curveballs. And then whenever he threw a fastball, it doesn't matter if it's 89 (mph), it looks harder than that. Then you got a guy that throws 100 (mph). You got to make adjustments."
Mark Reynolds grounded a single up the middle to open the ninth against closer Seung Hwan Oh. But Hwan Oh struck out Ian Desmond and Trevor Story and got Wolters to foul out to earn his 11th save in 13 opportunities.
Rockies starter Kyle Freeland (5-3) gave up eight hits and three runs in six innings. It was the seventh time in 10 career starts he has pitched at least six innings and his seventh quality start.
Three months shy of his 36th birthday, Wainwright began the season 2-3 with a 6.37 ERA in his first seven starts, giving the naysayers more reason to believe he was hurtling toward the twilight, his best days simply a memory.
But in his past three starts, Wainwright is 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA and has allowed one run and 12 hits in 20 1/3 innings. It has been an immensely satisfying return to form at this stage of his career.
"No matter how many times I keep telling people I'm sick and tired of hearing he's not what he once was, I've got to prove it," Wainwright said. "You can say it all day long, but unless you go out and prove it, it doesn't really matter, does it? I'm working on shutting those people up."
NOTES: Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong (left elbow stiffness) was scratched from the lineup. ... Cardinals RHP John Brebbia had his contract selected from Triple-A Memphis, and RHP Miguel Socolovich was designated for assignment. ... Cardinals 1B Jedd Gyorko made his ninth career start and first this season at first base. ... Cardinals OF Stephen Piscotty was not at the ballpark for the second straight game but no roster move was made. Manager Mike Matheny said Friday that Piscotty was sent home to deal with a personal matter. ... Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela, 22, who is 7-1 in 10 career starts, is one of six pitchers to debut since 1968 with at least seven wins and one or fewer losses in their first 10 major league starts before the age of 23. ... Rockies rookie starters are 11-2 this month, the most wins by rookie starting pitchers since Oakland rookies went 11-5 in September 2009.
