ST. LOUIS -- Looking for motivation to break a winless stretch over his last nine starts and a way to combat a star-studded Padres lineup, Adam Wainwright cued up video from the 2014 season on Monday. What he saw was a pitcher who not only won 20 games that season, but also took total command of the strike zone and regularly won cat-and-mouse games with hitters by being ahead of them with his decision-making and execution.
Hoping to channel the 32-year-old pitcher from that stellar season, Wainwright dove fully into his 2014 persona -- including shaving his beard and wearing longer pants. Hey, anything to get on track in this final MLB season.
“I was watching some video from 2014 and I had my pants down and I looked kind of studly out there, so I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll try that,’” he joked.
“In 2014, that’s the year I felt the most mentally in control of the entire game. In 2013, I felt the strongest I’ve ever felt, but in 2014 I felt like I was three steps ahead of the hitters. I wanted to look and see if I could recall what my mindset was behind each pitch, each at-bat and why I threw what I did.”
As it turns out, one of Wainwright’s teammates from those 2013 and ’14 seasons, Matt Carpenter, got to him with an RBI single in St. Louis’ 4-1 loss to the Padres at Busch Stadium on Monday night. Carpenter, who shared the Cards clubhouse with Wainwright for 11 seasons, used a single to push across the only run Wainwright allowed in six of his best-pitched innings of the season.
"Stinkin' Carp!” Wainwright said after scattering eight hits and three walks. “Golly, I'm going to send [Carpenter] some room service at 4 o'clock this morning or something."
Carpenter, a Cardinals standout from 2011-21, was much more reverential toward one of his best friends in baseball to this day.
“Adam Wainwright is a stud,” said Carpenter, who received a standing ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd. “This guy is as good of a competitor as I've ever been around -- that I've had the pleasure to play against and to play with. His career, what he's been able to do, is so rare. He'll go down as one of the greatest Cardinals to ever put on the uniform, and a Hall of Famer in my eyes.”
Wainwright captured win No. 198 on June 17 when he held the Mets to three runs over a season-high 6 1/3 innings. At the time, the veteran right-hander was 3-1, and he mentioned taking offense at fans telling him that he needed just two more wins, because he fully expected to blow past 200 career victories. At the time, Wainwright thought he was a lock to join Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Jesse Haines as the only pitchers in Cards history with 200 wins.
What happened next, however, completely ambushed the still highly competitive 41-year-old hurler. Before Monday, Wainwright made nine starts while trying to get win No. 199, only to go 0-8 with a 12.56 ERA. His best chance at pulling within one victory of 200 came on July 24 in Arizona, when Wainwright left with a 5-2 lead only to see the bullpen squander the edge.
Wainwright put all those recent struggles aside on Monday and pitched like it was 2014 again. He threw 39 curveballs, getting 13 swings and three misses.
For whatever reason, Wainwright has received zero runs of support in seven of his 18 starts this season. He’s gotten one or fewer 10 times. Another issue on Monday: He was facing NL Cy Young favorite Blake Snell, who limited the Cardinals to two hits over seven scoreless innings.
For one night, at least, Wainwright turned back the clock and pitched like the master craftsman who dominated foes in 2014 -- long pants and a clean shave included. He mostly matched zeros with Snell, but still found career win No. 199 elusive.
“I can control what I can control, and that’s trying to make quality pitches,” he said. “If I don’t give up a run in the sixth, I don’t lose the game and maybe we don’t lose the game. That’s a bummer, but what I do know is, I held a pretty good team to one run, so I can’t be too disappointed. Most of the time, you give up one run, you’re going to win that game.”