Wainwright pitches 2-hit shutout in Pittsburgh
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JOHN PERROTTO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Wainwright extended his dom- inance 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.
“He put on an absolute dis- play of what it takes to be a major league pitcher,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said.
Wainwright was happy to finally record a “Maddux,” which consists of throwing a shutout in under 100 pitches, for the first time. It is named after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, once teammates with Wainwright in Atlanta and whose brother, Mike, is the Cardinals pitching coach.
“I didn’t look at my pitch count all day,” Wainwright said. “I knew it was low, but I didn’t want it in my mind. I thought I had a chance at a Maddux, but I didn’t want to think about. I just wanted execute pitches.”
Center fielder Harrison Bader made two outstanding catches in the late innings to help preserve the shutout, and Wainwright said he would buy his teammate dinner.
“He doesn’t owe me anything,” Bader said with a smile. “Every time he toes the rubber, it’s an honor to be playing behind him.”
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.
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.
The Cardinals (57-56) won for the fourth time in five games while moving above .500.
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.
