Daily Rant: Adam Wainwright shuts out Padres

Adam Wainwright put together his first really good outing of the season in a complete game shutout of the San Diego Padres. A certain Redbird rants writer said

"This light-hitting lineup is the perfect foil for Wainwright to turn his season around."

But that’s just me quoting me. In seriousness, Wainwright obviously looked solid, but how did the Cardinals offense fair?

Box Score

The Positives

• Matt Holliday‘s two hits brought his season average up to .269. He recorded his 30th RBI and is definitely rebounding well from his cold start to the season
• If Carlos Beltran‘s knees are still hurting him, he isn’t letting anyone else know. He also recorded two hits and is flirting with a .300 average. He leads the team with 35 RBIs and has done a great job filling the Pujols void.
•  Looks like Wainwright wasn’t the only one reading the Daily Rant yesterday. I said that Matt Adams needs to show more patience and the very next day he has a two walk game. Coincidence? I think not. Adams is a great contact hitter with pop in his bat, but in the major leagues, you can’t expect to just beat up every pitcher.
• I believe I also said Adron Chambers should start getting starts and look what happened. Someone in the front office apparently likes Redbird Rants. It was encouraging to see Chambers pick up a single and a walk.
• Obviously seeing Adam Wainwright dominate a team was nice as it had been a while. The Padres are weak on offense, so it will be interesting to see if this start was the turnaround or if he struggles in his next rotation.

Justin’s Jeers

• Matt Carpenter left the game with a side injury. It may not seem like this injury is on par with Lance Berkman or Allen Craig, but with those players already out, the injury hurts just as much since he gave the team a lot of flexibility. There’s no word on whether he will lose time or not, but, if he does hit the DL, look for Eugenio Velez to get the call.
• Yadi and Tyler Greene were held hitless. They each had two hits on Monday, so it looks like the Padres were especially aggressive with the surprisingly hot bats.

Three Stars

3) Matt Holliday – With a two hit, one rune, and one RBI performance, Holliday did his part to ensure the Cardinals supported Wainwright’s shutout performance

2) Carlos Beltran – Beltran matched Holliday’s two hits, but his two RBIs gave the Cardinals an early lead that the Padres couldn’t overcome.

1) Adam Wainwright – Hopefully this is the first of many first stars for the Cardinals pitcher. If he can get back to his ace status, the Cardinals will be in much better shape with all the offensive injuries.

Current Standings

Today’s Game

The Cardinals hope to pick up a series win against the Padres today as they send out 6-1 Lance Lynn against former Cardinals started Jeff Suppan, who sports a 2-2 record. Lynn has a 2.31 ERA, while Suppan is sporting a clean 3.00 mark. The game is set for a 7:15 start time.