Cards top Indians 8-2 Behind Wainwright’s Gem

The Redbirds wrapped up a series with the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday as Adam Wainwright took the bump against Jean Carlos Mejia. Wainwright settled in after giving up two runs in the first inning, following the rocky frame with six more scoreless innings. Mejia, who was on a 65-pitch limit for the game, was pulled after recording just two outs on 38 pitches in the first inning as the Cards put up four runs thanks to an RBI walk by Yadier Molina and a bases-clearing double by Matt Carpenter. Cleveland’s bullpen gave up an additional four runs that scored via two home runs by Tyler O’Neill and a solo shot from Paul Goldschmidt, which all but secured the win to put a stop to the Cardinals’ six-game skid.

1st Inning

Cesar Hernandez led off for Cleveland, hitting a changeup just over Paul Goldschmidt’s glove for a double down the right field line. Amed Rosario hit a grounder back up the middle and Matt Carpenter knocked it down but couldn't make a play on it, putting runners on first and second after the infield single. Jose Ramirez skied a 2-1 cutter to deep right, enough to allow Hernandez to tag up and advance to third with one away. Eddie Rosario clobbered a first-pitch fastball to the right field corner, scoring Hernandez with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Cleveland and putting runners at second and third with one out for Harold Ramirez. Harold Ramirez flew out to deep center to score Amed Rosario, extending the Indians’ lead to 2-0. Josh Naylor struck out swinging at a curveball in the dirt on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, ending a rough first inning from Wainwright.

Tommy Edman began the bottom of the inning by lacing a double into the right-center gap on a 2-2 sinker. Dylan Carlson popped out to shallow center on a first-pitch sinker off the plate. Goldschmidt went down swinging through a belt-high fastball for the second out. Nolan Arenado drew a walk after a seven-pitch plate appearance. Tyler O’Neill worked another seven-pitch at-bat and singled on a swinging bunt to the left side of the infield. Yadier Molina saw eleven more pitches before drawing another walk, bringing Edman home to close the deficit to 2-1.

Carpenter then emptied the bases with a double off the glove of Naylor at first and the throw in got loose in the infield, allowing Carpenter to advance to third on the play as the Cards took a 4-2 lead. Phil Maton relieved Mejia after the double and struck out Sosa to end the first inning.

2nd Inning

Austin Hedges kicked off the second inning with a lineout to a diving Tyler O’Neill in left field. Bradley Zimmer went down on three pitches swinging over a curveball. Maton grounded out to short as Wainwright made quick work of the second inning.

Wainwright struck out waving at an 0-2 curveball for the first out in the bottom of the frame. Edman went down looking at a great curveball that caught the outside edge. Carlson followed suit, frozen by a fastball in the zone as Maton struck out the first four hitters he faced.

3rd Inning

Hernandez continued the K-fest, staring at a 1-2 sinker for strike three. Amed Rosario followed with a groundout to short. Jose Ramirez grounded into the shift for the final out as Wainwright cruised through the third.

Goldschmidt became the fifth straight strikeout victim of Maton to begin the bottom of the third. Arenado broke the strikeout streak with a one-out double down the left field line. O’Neill tore a home run over the visiting bullpen to extend the Cards’ lead to 6-2 and the outfielders didn’t even move on contact.

Molina followed the homer with a strikeout, frozen by a curveball that caught the bottom of the zone. Carpenter then grounded into the shift to close out the inning.

4th Inning

Eddie Rosario grounded out weakly to Goldschmidt to open the fourth. Harold Ramirez followed with a groundout to short. Naylor chopped another ball to Goldschmidt as Cleveland went down in order yet again.

Blake Parker took the fourth for the Indians and retired Sosa on a flyout to deep left field. Wainwright singled on a grounder back up the middle for his first hit on the year. Edman hit a first-pitch curve right on the screws but straight at Harold Ramirez in right for the second out. Carlson ended the frame, swinging under a high fastball for strike three.

5th Inning

Hedges chopped the sixth pitch of his at-bat to Arenado for the first out in the fifth. An 0-2 cutter caught Zimmer on the leg, bringing up pinch-hitter Owen Miller who struck out swinging over a curveball. Hernandez then grounded a sinker to second for the final out.

Cal Quantrill pitched the bottom of the fifth and started the inning by hitting Goldschmidt on the back elbow with a fastball that ran too far inside. Arenado skied an 0-2 slider to center for the first out. Goldschmidt stole second on the first pitch to O’Neill, who struck out as he failed to check his swing on a ball in the dirt. Molina waved at a changeup in the dirt to send the game to the sixth.

6th Inning

Amed Rosario broke his bat on a sinker and grounded out softly to first. Jose Ramirez followed and skied another sinker to center for the second out. Eddie Rosario was frozen by a 1-2 fastball as the Indians were retired in order in the sixth.

Carpenter led off the Cardinals’ half of the inning with a six-pitch walk, after which Lane Thomas pinch-ran for him. Sosa followed with a single to center on an 0-1 sinker. Wainwright dropped a bunt to try to move the runners, but Naylor jumped on it and got the force at third for the first out. Edman lined out to first for the second out. Carlson worked a six-pitch at-bat but lined out to right to strand both runners.

7th Inning

Thomas took over in right field as Edman moved to play second. Harold Ramirez led off with a groundout to third. Naylor then grounded out to first and Hedges went down looking on five pitches, sitting down the Indians in order yet again.

Trevor Stephan came out of the bullpen for Cleveland in the seventh. Goldschmidt tallied his first hit of the game, belting an 0-1 fastball the other way for a solo shot and a 7-2 Cardinals lead.

Arenado followed with a popout to the catcher. O’Neill smacked a slider to dead center for his second home run of the evening, extending the Cards’ lead to 8-2. Molina took a 1-2 changeup off his back arm, extending the inning to Thomas who walked on five pitches. Sosa then flew out to the warning track in right field. John Nogowski pinch-hit for Wainwright and lined out to center to end the frame.

8th Inning

Genesis Cabrera got the call to get some work in the eighth and struck out Zimmer who took a third strike that looked off the plate. Yu Chang pinch-hit for Stephan and flew out to center for the second out and Hernandez flew out to right for another quiet inning from the Cleveland offense.

James Karinchak relieved Stephan in the eighth and gave up a leadoff single to Edman. Carlson took a 3-2 fastball in the zone for the first out. Goldschmidt followed with a deep flyout to left field. Arenado grounded out to short to send the game to the ninth.

9th Inning

Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth for St. Louis and retired Amed Rosario with a lineout to a sliding Thomas in right. Jose Ramirez dribbled a ground ball back to Helsley for the second out. Eddie Rosario flew out to center to end the game with a score of 8-2 in favor of St. Louis.

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The Cardinals ended their losing streak and improved to 32-30 with the win, while the Indians leave St. Louis with a record of 32-27. The Cardinals will enjoy an off day on Thursday before starting a weekend series with the Cubs at Wrigley on Friday at 1:20 PM CT.

Waino-Yadi Battery Tracker

With Wainwright’s start on Wednesday, he and Yadi have now appeared in 285 games as battery-mates. They recently passed the combinations of Don Drysdale and John Roseboro (Los Angeles Dodgers, 283 games, 1957-1967) and Red Ruffing and Bill Dickey (New York Yankees, 282 games, 1930-1946). Drysdale had a solid career mostly pitching behind Sandy Koufax, including a 1962 Cy Young-winning campaign where he won 25 decisions and pitched 314 innings with an ERA of 2.83 and an FIP of 2.85.

The only clip I could find of Roseboro was a brawl that erupted with the San Francisco Giants in a heated playoff race in 1965, where the Giants’ Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax were throwing at each other throughout the game. After a retaliation attempt from Koufax, Marichal started fighting Roseboro, bat in hand, as a fourteen-minute benches-clearing fight ensued. According to at least one YouTube video, Madrichal and Roseboro apparently became friends sometime after the incident.

Red Ruffing pitched from 1924 to 1947. He originally pitched for the Red Sox but went on to pitch for 15 years with the Yankees. He spent 1943 and 1944 fighting in World War II before returning and pitching three more seasons: two with the Yankees and one with the White Sox. He had a career record of 273-225 and posted a 3.80 ERA and 3.93 FIP.

Hall of Famer Bill Dickey appears twice on the all-time battery list, as he also caught Lefty Gomez of the Yankees for 247 games from 1931 to 1942, and is renowned as one of the greatest catchers of all time.

Final Pitching Lines

Cardinals

Wainwright (W, 4-5): 7 IP / 3 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 0 BB / 6 K / 0 HR

Carbrera: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Helsley: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Indians

Mejia (L, 1-1): 0.2 IP / 3 H / 4 R / 4 ER / 2 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Maton: 2.1 IP / 2 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 0 BB / 6 K / 1 HR

Parker: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Quantrill: 2 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 2 K / 0 HR

Stephan: 1 IP / 2 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 1 BB / 0 K / 2 HR

Karinchak: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 1 K / 0 HR