ST. LOUIS — Friday’s Game Report: Phillies 2, Cardinals 0
Walking off the field after throwing the 28th complete game of his career on Friday night, Adam Wainwright received a standing ovation from the crowd at Busch Stadium.
Unfortunately for Wainwright and the Cardinals, however, the crowd was not applauding a victory.
Wainwright gave up two solo homers to eighth-place hitter Alec Bohm that gave the Phillies the win in the opener of a four-game series.
It the outcome seemed familiar for Wainwright, it’s because it was. Last year, Wainwright allowed two solo homers to Rhys Hoskins and lost a 2-1 complete game to the Phillies, also at Busch Stadium.
That was also the last time in the majors a pitcher threw a nine-inning complete game and got the loss. Both of those games came against Zack Wheeler, who also started against Wainwright last Sunday in Philadelphia when the Phillies won 4-0.
In his 28 career complete games, Wainwright has a 24-4 record. The other two losses came in road games when he pitched eight innings.
The Cardinals were shut out for the third time in their last six games, and in those six games have scored a total of seven runs, two coming in extra innings on Thursday night when they started two innings with a runner on second base.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: All six of the Cardinals’ hits came with two outs and all were singles. The only time they advanced a runner to third base was when Nolan Gorman went from first to third on a hit by Dylan Carlson in the fourth before Tommy Edman struck out to end the inning … Gorman grounded out with runners on first and second in the first; Carlson struck out with runners on first and second in the sixth and Nolan Arenado popped out with a runner on first in the eighth … Albert Pujols made a bid to end the shutout when he pinch-hit leading off the ninth and flew out to the wall in left in front of the visitor’s bullpen.
On the mound: Wainwright allowed only three hits other than the home runs by Bohm, the first multi-homer game of his career. The two homers by Bohm were the only hits Wainwright allowed between the third and ninth innings, the only hits he allowed over a span of 20 batters. He struck out three and did not walk a batter in his 103 pitch outing.
Key stat: Not counting the two extra innings in which they started with a runner on second base, the Cardinals leadoff hitter has reached base in only eight of their last 54 innings over six games.
Worth noting: Paul Goldschmidt won the fan balloting and will start at first base in the All-Star Game. It’s his eighth All-Star selection and this will be his third start, the first since 2015. Albert Pujols was named to the NL team on Friday in a commissioner’s selection. The rest of the roster will be announced on Sunday …Tyler O’Neill’s return to the roster has been delayed because of a sore right wrist, the result of being hit by a pitch while playing for Memphis on Wednesday night. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated on Monday … The Cardinals did get reliever Genesis Cabrera back on Friday as he was reinstated from the COVID IL. James Naile was returned to Memphis but remained on the 40-man roster as Memphis’ pitcher Angel Rondon was designated for assignment.
Looking ahead: Dakota Hudson will get the start in the 1:15 p.m. game on Saturday.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains.
To watch 5 On Your Side broadcasts or reports 24/7, 5 On Your Side is always streaming on 5+. Download for free on Roku or Amazon Fire TV.
