Cardinals: Adam Wainwright is once again the stopper

At three games under .500, things aren’t going well for the St. Louis Cardinals. To make things worse, their most recent fall has been at the hands of teams that either are or were lower than them in record.

Over the weekend, the Cardinals lost three out of four against the Atlanta Braves, then lost both games against the Detroit Tigers, and lost the first two games against the last place Pittsburgh Pirates. Heading into game three, the Cardinals needed their stopper, Adam Wainwright to do the job once again. Thankfully for the Cardinals, betting on Wainwright to win a game at home is an easy pick.

Over 6.0 innings, Waino gave up just six hits and one earned run. It helped on the offensive side to be backed by three solo shots, but in the end the Cardinals did what they were supposed to be doing for the past five games — winning.

A stat posted by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch perfectly sums up the Cardinals’ month. In the past 30 days, Adam Wainwright is the only Cardinals starter to earn a win. Wins are obviously not a great way to measure performance, but that stat is clearly damning.

The team’s most recent cold streak (up until Saturday’s win) left them reeling and 7.0 games back of the division lead. With Milwaukee’s comeback win on Saturday, Waino’s effort only kept the team in step with the division leaders. While I’m sure the team was glad to get back on their horse for one game, it’ll take a lot more than  splitting a series with the Pirates (which isn’t guaranteed) to get the Cards back into things.

The team’s frustrations have become increasingly more clear in games as well, and who can blame them. Smashed bats and helmets were more prominent now than I’ve ever seen as a fan. 7.0 games isn’t a death sentence, especially with so much time left in the season. However, they’ll need more nights like last night from Waino and Paul Goldschmidt if they want to have a chance.