St. Louis Cardinals avoid the plank versus Pittsburgh Pirates

The Good

The pitching in this series was so good it makes you wonder where these guys have been.

J.A. Happ pitched six innings of one-hit baseball on Tuesday. That one hit was a home run to Pirates second baseman Hoy Park. But he was able to keep it to that one hit over six innings, walking two and striking out five. He induced nine swing and misses. Happ is now 6-6 on the season.

The relief core did not allow a single hit the rest of the game. Ryan Helsley pitched two thirds of an inning. He walked one and struck out two. Genesis Cabrera pitched one and a third inning. This was his 19th hold of the season.

Alex Reyes earned his 26th save of the year pitching the ninth inning.

On Wednesday, Adam Wainwright threw 88 pitches in a complete game shut out, also known as a Maddux. It was amazing and wonderful to see the reliable ol’ Uncle Charlie out there pitching like he isn’t about to turn 40 in a few weeks.

This was the 296th start for the combo of Wainwright and Molina. It was a vintage performance from Wainwright you might have expected from their 50th start together.

Of the 88 pitches, Wainwright gave up two hits and struck out seven.

He was helped out tremendously by the defense, notably Bader. Check this out:

Wainwright is now 11-6 on the season. Who would have thought it possible? You got to hope he has a few more gems in him.

It wasn’t all fun for the Cardinals pitching.