Wainwright Throws Complete Game

The Cardinals lost last night’s game to the Astros in the ninth inning, but returned the favor today with a strong performance from starter Adam Wainwright, and some much needed clutch hitting.

Coming in, St. Louis was hitting .257 with runners in scoring position in 296 plate appearances. That lack of production partially attributed to last night’s loss.  Today, Albert Pujols hit a two run double in the third, followed by an RBI sacrifice fly by Troy Glaus, and Skip Schumaker had the game winning RBI single in the ninth.Wainwright outlasted his counterpart, Roy Oswalt, getting the first complete game of the season for the Cards. He gave up three runs, all via the solo home run, on five hits, while striking out six. His 126 pitches was also a season high.  4-3 was the final. Here’s the full box score.

The win improves the Redbirds to 15-10, but still in second place in the division. Tomorrow the team will try to win the series with Kyle Lohse on the mound.  With Brandon Backe starting for Houston, I expect Pujols and the Cardinals to put up a lot of runs.