PITTSBURGH — Friday’s Game Report: Cardinals 5, Pirates 3
It’s unfortunate for Adam Wainwright that all of his starts can’t come against the Pirates.
Wainwright saw his streak of scoreless innings against the Pirates finally end at 38 on Friday night, but still won his 10th consecutive start against the team in the opener of the Cardinals’ weekend series in Pittsburgh.
Over his last 19 starts against the Pirates dating back to 2016, Wainwright is 12-0 with seven no decisions. He has not allowed more than one run in any of his last nine starts against the Pirates.
His scoreless streak ended on a seventh-inning home run by Michael Chavis after the Cardinals had built a 5-0 lead.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Wainwright had to protect a 1-0 lead from the first inning until the sixth, when the Cardinals had six consecutive hitters reach base, producing four runs. The biggest hit of the inning was a two-run single by Yadier Molina in between RBI singles from Dylan Carlson and Harrison Bader … Nolan Gorman made his major-league debut and singled to right in his first at-bat and also drew a walk in the sixth inning rally … Paul Goldschmidt’s single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 27 consecutive games … Tommy Edman, Carlson and Molina each had two of the team’s 10 hits.
On the mound: Wainwright gave up a hit and two walks in the first inning but no runs, thanks to a double play. He then allowed just two hits and a walk until Chavis homered with one out in the seventh … Genesis Cabrera retired only one of the five hitters he faced in the eighth, giving up two runs … Giovanny Gallegos, who gave up the walkoff homer on Thursday in New York, relieved with two runners on base but got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. He came back out for the ninth and struck out the side to earn the save.
Key stat: Wainwright’s steak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings was the longest streak by a pitcher against a single opponent since Roger Clemens had a streak of 40 consecutive scoreless innings against the Twins between 1987 and 1990.
Worth noting: Tyler O’Neill returned to St. Louis to undergo treatment on his sore right shoulder which sent him to the injured list on Thursday. One result of the IL stint is that O’Neill, who has been struggling offensively, will be able to get into games at the minor-league level on a rehab assignment before he returns … The Cardinals will have to open a spot on both the active roster and the 40-man roster on Saturday for Matthew Liberatore … Gorman was assigned uniform number 16.
Looking ahead: The lefthanded Liberatore will make his major-league debut as the Cardinals’ starter in Saturday night’s game.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains