For the fifth time overall and fourth time this season, Adam Wainwright will take the mound with the chance to move past Dizzy Dean for sole possession of 6th place on the St. Louis Cardinals all-time wins list. More immediate than that, he is looking for his first win of the season.
Despite picking up the 1500th strikeout of his career in his last outing, the other numbers haven’t been as positive for Wainwright. He’s allowed 11 earned runs in 13.2 innings pitched this season.
“I just gotta keep going,” stated Wainwright afterwards, continuing to focus on the positives he can take from each of the outings.
While there are certainly those who are wondering if time is catching up to the 35-year old Wainwright, he also has his fair share of supporters. Among them Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
“Adam Wainwright is going to reinvent himself and get people out,” tweeted Martinez earlier this month. “I wouldn’t worry about him in the beginning of the season.”
Wainwright also received a vote of confidence earlier this week from St. Louis Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak.
“Waino’s like a lot of pitchers that are having to readjust how they pitch,” said Mozeliak. “When you don’t have the velocity you may have had three or four years ago, when your breaking ball may not be as crisp as it once was, that means everything else has to be better and it usually starts with command.”
In his career, Wainwright is 14-8 against Milwaukee–his most victories against any opponent. And he allowed just 2.o earned runs in 22 innings pitched against the Brewers last season.
“Obviously, what Adam Wainwright’s done during his career for the St. Louis Cardinals, we certainly have the ability to give him some time to work through this,” said Mozeliak.
–Starting in RF tonight, Jose Martinez is in the midst of a 7-game hit streak. During the stretch, he is batting .471 (8-17).
–Dating back to September 5, 2014, the Cardinals have hit at least one home run in 22 consecutive games at Miller Park, which is the longest streak by any team at Miller Park or County Stadium.
