ST. LOUIS — It was another rough night for Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals.
After being knocked out of his last start in the fourth inning, Wainwright failed to make it through the second inning on Thursday night, giving up six runs in the inning, in what turned out to be the second-biggest shutout loss for the Cardinals in their 17 seasons at Busch Stadium 3.
Only a 15-0 loss to the Giants on Aug. 8, 2012 was worse.
It was a 10-0 game in the ninth inning when the Cardinals brought in outfielder Alec Burleson to pitch, which he also did in college at East Carolina. He gave up three singles before Alex Bregman hit a grand slam.
The Cardinals are 1-5 in Wainwright’s last six starts, and in his last two games, he has allowed a combined 13 runs in 4 2/3 innings. He remained stuck on 198 career wins.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 14 games under .500 at 33-47. They are 9 ½ games behind in the division, and will reach the halfway point in the season on Friday night.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals were shut out for the eighth time this season, collecting only four hits. Only two runners reached second base and they had only two at-bats with a runner on second … About the only bright spot for the Cardinals was a single by Jordan Walker leading off the fifth that extended his hitting streak to 17 games. It’s tied for the second longest hitting steak by a rookie in Cardinals history and is the longest streak by a rookie in the majors this season.
On the mound: Wainwright was able to pitch around a single and walk in the first inning, but couldn’t get out of trouble in the second. The Astros had runners on first and third with two outs before he gave up a single, walk, single and back-to-back doubles that ended his night … Steven Matz relieved Wainwright and allowed only one hit over 3 1/3 innings … Jake Woodford gave up four runs, including a three-run homer, before the Astros finished off the night with the grand slam off Burleson … The Cardinals pitchers combined to walk eight Astros for the second consecutive night.
Key stat: Wainwright was making his 400th career start for the Cardinals and the 1 2/3 innings matched the shortest start of his career. He also recorded only five outs in a game at Baltimore on June 17, 2017, allowing nine runs.
Worth noting: It was announced before the game that Nolan Arenado will be the starting third baseman for the NL in the All-Star game in Seattle. It’s his eighth All-Star selection, and he likely will be the only representative from the Cardinals … Burleson was the first position player to pitch for the Cardinals this season. He allowed six hits but also recorded a strikeout. He pitched in 47 games during his college career, including 21 starts, with a career record of 13-5 … In his second game at Double A Springfield, Victor Scott II was 3-of-4 and stole his 52nd base of the season.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will welcome the Yankees to Busch Stadium on Friday night for the first of three weekend games. Matthew Liberatore will get the start in the 7:15 p.m. game.