Wainwright shuts out Nationals

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St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (4-1) shut out the Washington Nationals in 8.1 innings last night.
Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) reacts after being removed from the game in the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Image Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Wainwright proved he was human in that he allowed his first walk of the season to sophomore left fielder Bryce Harper. For what it’s worth, Harper had the most success against Wainwright last night as he picked up two of the Nationals 5 hits.

Wainwright proved to be too much for the Nationals. He struck out nine in the course of the game. He finished two outs shy of his second complete game shutout of the season when he was pulled in the bottom of the ninth after getting Adam LaRoche to strike out for the fourth time of the evening.

With 37 strikeouts, 1 walk allowed, and a 1.93 ERA this season, Wainwright is making an early season case to finish in the top five when Cy Young voting takes place at the end of the season. Wainwright’s opposing batting average this season is sitting at .255 right now.

Entering today’s afternoon games, Wainwright is ranked second to Pittsburgh Pirates starter A.J. Burnett in the league for strikeouts. Wainwright and New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey are tied for the lead with 4 wins a piece. Wainwright’s 1.93 ERA is 10th in the league. As for innings pitched, he’s sitting in first place all by himself with 37.1 innings this season. Clayton Kershaw, for the moment, is just a few innings behind him.

Offensively, it was the bats of Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran that gave the Cardinals the lead in last nights game. Craig and Beltran accounted for the only runs of the night.

Pete Kozma, still being booed in Washington, got two hits last night but did not score any runs.

Wednesday afternoon sees Jaime Garcia take to the rubber against Stephen Strasburg. The Cardinals would like to continue their winning streak in Washington and go on a happy flight back to St. Louis.