The St. Louis Cardinals hope ace Adam Wainwright can right himself when he takes the mound Saturday in the continuation of a three-game series versus the Colorado Rockies at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright is 0-1 with a 5.11 earned run average in his last two starts and was riding a personal four-game winning streak. The right-hander did not figure into the decision of a 7-6 win at Milwaukee last Saturday and allowed a season-high five runs and 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings, a season-low.
He is still a solid 4-2 in seven starts with a 2.72 ERA. In nine career meetings (5 starts) with Colorado, Wainwright is 4-1 with a 1.45 ERA.
Wainwright may be successful Saturday if he pitches half as well as rookie Shelby Miller did in Friday's 3-0 win over the Rockies. Miller struck out 13 batters and was practically perfect, as he gave up just one hit through nine innings. He did not walk a batter to push his record to 5-2.
After Eric Young singled to start the game, Miller took flight and retired the next 27 hitters.
"It was definitely the best game I've thrown in my life," Miller admitted. "It was unbelievable. It was a great experience."
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was impressed.
"Just an unbelievable display of pitching," Matheny said. "He had pinpoint control, he was hitting his spots. He had a feel for everything. It was pretty incredible. Wow."
The Cardinals' rotation is now 20-7 with the best ERA in the majors at 2.20.
Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for St. Louis, winners in eight of its last nine games. The Cardinals also opened their 10-game homestand on a positive note.
Colorado has lost three in a row and four of its last five games, and couldn't find a way to solve Miller.
Young had the lone hit for the Rockies, while Troy Tulowitzki struck out three times. Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez both whiffed twice in defeat and starting pitcher Jon Garland surrendered all three runs in five innings to absorb the loss.
"It was (Miller's) night. What could you do?" Garland asked.
Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer was not in the starting lineup Friday because of a neck issue and is day-to-day. He is hitting .319 with seven homers and 23 RBI this season.
"This is something I've dealt with since 2004," Cuddyer said. "When this happens, it locks me up. I can't turn my neck and it makes it very difficult to play."
Jhoulys Chacin will try to quiet the St. Louis bats when he takes the mound for Colorado Saturday afternoon. Chacin is 3-1 with a 2.56 earned run average in five starts and is coming off his first loss of the season. In an 8-3 setback to Tampa Bay on Sunday, he was hit for six runs, five of which were earned, in a season-high seven innings.
Chacin, a right-hander, is 0-1 with an 8.00 ERA in two career games (1 start) against the Cardinals.
The Rockies and Cardinals are meeting for the first time this season. St. Louis won five of the seven matchups last season.
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