Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals voted National League Pitcher of the Month for September

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for the month of September.

Wainwright was tied for the Major League lead in wins during the final month of the regular season, posting a perfect 5-0 record in five starts. The Cardinals ace ranked among league leaders with 39.0 innings pitched (T-3rd), while his 1.38 ERA (6 ER/39.0 INN) ranked sixth among qualifying NL pitchers. The 33-year-old recorded 29 strikeouts while issuing just five walks during the month, and he held opposing hitters to a .213 batting average.

Wainwright capped his stellar 2014 campaign with 7.0 shutout innings in an 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on September 22nd at Wrigley Field for his 20th win of the season. The 20 wins tied his career high set in 2010, when the eightyear veteran posted a 20-11 mark. The milestone victory came on the heels of a complete-game shutout performance on September 17th in a 2-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. In that outing, Wainwright held the Brewers hitless into the sixth inning, while fanning seven and throwing just 102 pitches in 9.0 innings of work. It was his third shutout of the season and ninth of his career, and it marked his second straight complete-game effort against the Brewers after firing a complete game in a 9-1 victory on September 7th at Milwaukee. Sandwiched between the two Milwaukee starts was an 8.0-inning performance on September 12th in which the three-time NL All-Star allowed just a single run while fanning eight in a 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Busch Stadium. Wainwright finished the season with a 20-9 record for the NL Central
Champions, tied for second in wins among Major League hurlers. His 2.38 ERA ranked third among qualifying National Leaguers. This is his second career Pitcher of the Month Award, having won for June 2013.

Other pitchers receiving votes included Wainwright's ALDS Game 1 opponent Clayton Kershaw (5-0, 1.95 ERA, 45 SO, 37.0 IP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Jake Arrieta (3-0, 0.95 ERA, SHO, 32 SO, 28.1 IP) of the Cubs; Pittsburgh's Wild Card Game starter Edinson Volquez (2-0, 1.08 ERA, 33.1 IP, 31 SO) and Francisco Liriano (4-0, 1.16 ERA, 35 SO, 31.0 IP); and Washington's Stephen Strasburg (3-1, 1.13 ERA, 32 SO, 32.0 IP) and Drew Storen (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 SV, 10 SO, 12.0 IP).

The National League Pitcher of the Month for September, Adam Wainwright, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, to commemorate his performance.