TORONTO, ON — Wednesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 6, Blue Jays 1
In need of somebody to step up, the Cardinals turned to their two oldest players to do just that on Wednesday night.
Adam Wainwright shut down the hot-hitting Blue Jays for seven innings and Albert Pujols had three hits, including a three-run homer, to lead the Cardinals to the win in Toronto that gave them a split of the two-game series played without Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.
Wainwright picked up his 191st career win and the home run for Pujols was the 686th of his career.
The two youngest Cardinals, Nolan Gorman and Dylan Carlson, also chipped in to the attack. Gorman hit his 10th homer of the season and Carlson knocked in a run with a double.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Pujols had a single in the second inning and doubled in the fourth before hitting his seventh homer of the year in the fifth, when the Cardinals scored four runs … Gorman led off the inning with his home run, his second hit of the game … Andrew Knizner followed that blast with a double and Tyler O’Neill drew a two-out walk in advance of Pujols’ homer … Their other run scored on a double by Lars Nootbaar, who also had a two-hit night … Tommy Edman was 0-of-5, striking out three times.
On the mound: Wainwright scattered five hits over his seven innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight. Toronto’s only run scored in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Bo Bichette. The win was the first for Wainwright in five starts since June 27 and was only his second win in 12 starts dating back to May 26 … Giovanny Gallegos pitched the eighth and Ryan Helsley the ninth, getting work in because of the Cardinals’ two off-days this week. He struck out two in his 1-2-3 inning.
Key stat: After hitting .188 in May and .158 in June, Pujols raised his average in July to .348 (16-of-46) with three homers and seven RBIs in 17 games, 11 of them starts.
Worth noting: At 42, Pujols became the oldest player to hit a home run at Rogers Centre. His last homer there had been in 2018 when he was with the Angels … The only previous time Wainwright had started in Toronto was on June 24, 2010 … Yadier Molina will start a rehab assignment with Memphis on Thursday night. He is scheduled to catch on Thursday and serve as a DH on Friday. He is expected to rejoin the Cardinals next Tuesday, which would be the next scheduled start for Wainwright … Paul DeJong homered for the third consecutive game for Memphis on Wednesday night.
Looking ahead: After Thursday’s day off, the Cardinals will be in Washington, D.C., on Friday night to begin a three-game series against the Nationals. Miles Mikolas is the scheduled starter.
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