Behind Wainwright, Cardinals cruise past Reds

The St.Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds are two of the best teams in baseball right now. So going into the first game of their three game set at Great American Ballpark you would probably believe that it would be a very competitive game. That was not the case as the Cardinals rode the back of Adam Wainwright and their strong offense to a 9-2 rout of the Reds.
June 1, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) congratulates Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) on his complete game victory over the San Francisco Giants during game two of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Giants 7-1. Image Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Adam Wainwright continued his outstanding season with another great start. Wainwright went 7 innings Friday night giving up 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7 and allowing just his seventh walk of the season. Through the first few innings it looked like we were in store for a pitchers duel as Wainwright and Reds pitcher Mike Leake cruised for the most part through the first three innings. But in the fourth inning the Redbirds struck. In what might have been the turning point of the game, Allen Craig worked a long at bat against Leake and eventually got a single into right field putting runners on the corners with one out. Two batters later, David Freese increased his league leading hitting streak to 17 games hitting a line drive into center to put the Cards on top. Two more hits from Jon Jay and Pete Kozma added two more runs and by the end of the inning the Cards had a 3-0 lead for their ace.

While Wainwright continued to shut down the Reds offense, the Cards offense kept at it. After the Reds went to their bullpen in the sixth, the Cards scored four more runs thanks to back to back doubles by Jay and Kozma while Matt Carpenter kept his 16 game hitting streak alive with an RBI single. By the end of the sixth the Cards had a 7-0 lead and with Wainwright pitching like the ace he is, you had a feeling the game was over. The Cards bullpen took over in the 8th and got two shutout innings from Randy Choate and Trevor Rosenthal as the Redbirds sealed up their 40th win of the year becoming the first team in the big leagues to reach that mark.

The Cardinals now have a 40-21 record and a 4 game lead over the Reds and Pirates in the  National League Central. The Cards and Reds go to battle again on Saturday at 6:15 CT with Tyler Lyons facing Reds right hander Mat Latos. The game will be televised on Fox