Time and time again this season -- and really, over his career -- the Cardinals have turned to Adam Wainwright in times of need not because they desire to, but because the moment has simply found their best pitcher of this era.
“We don't want it to be the case in a situation where every fifth day we feel like he's going to bail us out,” manager Mike Shildt said pregame. “We want him to be able to continue to move us forward.”
So now the Cardinals hope this latest showing from their workhorse on Saturday is more a precursor than simply a stopgap. Buoyed by loud, homer-happy days from Paul DeJong and Paul Goldschmidt, Wainwright led St. Louis to a fourth win in his last four starts and ended a five-game team skid thanks to a 3-1 victory over the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
“I like pressure,” Wainwright said. “I get along great with pressure.”
The last time the Cardinals got a win from a starter other than Wainwright was on May 26, when John Gant blanked the White Sox in Chicago four days before Jack Flaherty went down with his oblique injury. Gant has since been moved to the bullpen; the Cardinals are 5-1 in Wainwright’s last six starts, thanks to his five consecutive quality starts.
More positive than Wainwright’s afternoon -- six-plus innings, one run and eight punchouts -- was how the Cardinals supported him. For DeJong, it was getting on base twice, hammering his second extra-base hit (and homer) since returning off the injured list on June 11. And for Goldschmidt, it was a nearly unrivaled show of power, as he hammered an insurance homer in the fifth 470 feet to dead center -- the fourth-longest blast in Busch Stadium III history.
It was a complete team effort, one the Cardinals have longed for. Pristine pitching (just one walk), timely hitting (second straight game with multiple homers) and even one of Nolan Arenado’s staple, jaw-dropping plays up the third-base line along the way.
“I don’t want to drop an expletive,” Shildt said, “but holy -- he caught that. … That’s as good of a play as you’re going to see on a baseball field.”
But the day started with Wainwright.
“He's almost like a father figure in that he kind of shepherds what we're doing as a group,” DeJong said. “He's a vocal leader when he's not pitching, and when he's on the mound, his intensity rubs off on everybody.”
“At least he didn’t say granddad,” Wainwright quipped.
A superb day from Wainwright, paired with a much-needed win, has bordered on expected. Saturday’s start lowered his Busch Stadium ERA this season to 2.55, as opposed to a 6.31 mark on the road. And it delivered him his sixth victory of the season after starting the year 0-3.
Wainwright and Flaherty account for 14 of the 23 wins from Cards starters this season.
“I like going out and pitching, I like competing, I like having something on the line,” Wainwright said. “Always seem to excel in those situations. Not always, but usually. I like those spots. But I know our team’s a lot better than we've played. We're going to win some games here real soon. A lot of them.”
Wainwright only got there on Saturday because of the bats behind him. DeJong, sporting a mustache at the behest of Andrew Knizner and in order to break out of his slump, visited a familiar land -- Big Mac Land. Only this time, he will not be able to take home a letter from the sign off the façade in left field.
DeJong also added a walk, a ball well struck to right field and several tough plays turned on defense, saying he’s felt comfortable hitting in the No. 8 hole knowing he’ll get better pitches to hit in front of the pitcher’s spot and with runners on base.
“I thought his day was stache-tacular,” Shildt said.
And then the offense fell to Goldschmidt. He responded with a homer that landed past Freese’s Lawn on the fly -- an exclamation point on a day that ended 10 straight losses to NL Central foes and four straight against last-place teams.
“That's the farthest ball I've ever seen hit to center here,” Wainwright said.
“That ball was absolutely crushed,” Shildt added. “We're having guys taking good at-bats, they're taking the right kind of at-bats, a lot of good team at-bats. …
“But that was an absolute tank.”