St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis Cardinals' pitching staff has been dominant to start the season. That trend continued Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals blanked the Milwaukee Brewers for the second straight day, 8-0, at Busch Stadium.
Not only did St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (2-1) hold the Brewers to four hits while tossing his fifth career shutout, but the right-hander finished 3- for-3 with two RBI. Two of his hits came in a seven-run sixth inning that broke open what had been a pitchers' duel.
Wainwright, who has yet to walk a batter in 22 innings this season, matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in St. Louis' third consecutive shutout overall. The Cardinals' pitchers have allowed three runs or less in eight of the first 11 games this year.
"That was very impressive. You didn't really catch any tendencies either. (Wainwright) was mixing it up well," said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny.
Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo (0-1), meanwhile, had given up one run through the first five frames before being chased during the Cardinals' sixth- inning outburst.
Wainwright opened the sixth by legging out an infield single. Another base hit by Jon Jay and a hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs for Matt Holliday, who plated a pair with a liner back up the middle.
After Carlos Beltran popped out to short, Allen Craig singled home a run, ending Gallardo's outing. Yadier Molina greeted reliever Burke Badenhop with a RBI single and another run scored on a two-out error by first baseman Blake Lalli.
Badenhop was then replaced by Michael Gonzalez after Wainwright, who put St. Louis on the board with an RBI single in the third, knocked in Molina with a single to center field.
A seventh run then scored on a base hit by Jay before Matt Carpenter flied out to close the frame.
"I was making pitches in certain situations and then have that sixth inning where the only ball that was hit hard was the one by Holliday," Gallardo said.
When the game's outcome was still up in the air, Jay made a diving catch in left-center to rob Martin Maldonado of an extra-base hit. Jay's fifth-inning grab became even more important when the next batter, Yuniesky Betancourt, ripped a double to right-center.
Game Notes
Four of Wainwright's last five home starts against the Brewers have resulted in complete-game wins ... Wainwright became the first St. Louis pitcher with two hits in the same inning since Braden Looper accomplished the feat on Aug. 6, 2007 ... Gallardo fell to 1-10 in 15 career starts against the Cardinals ... Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks snapped an 0-for-21 drought with a seventh-inning double ... For the first time since 1932, the Redbirds wore uniforms with St. Louis across the front of their jerseys instead of the traditional Cardinals.
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