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Originally Posted by FIRST B0RN
@ not sweeping the lamest team in the A.L.
[h3]Offense comes alive behind Wainwright[/h3]
Righty allows one run, hits homer; Cards add three shots
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
MILWAUKEE -- The Cardinals took out two weeks of offensive frustration on an old teammate.
Jeff Suppan, who stifled the St. Louis offense 10 days earlier at Busch Stadium, was on the receiving end of a thumping on Tuesday night as the Cards hammered the Brewers, 8-1, at Miller Park. The Cardinals had not scored more than five runs in a game since May 10, and had totaled 34 runs in their past 13 games.
"It was nice to finally give one of our starting pitchers a cushion," said leadoff man Skip Schumaker. "We haven't done that in a while."
Six different players drove in a run for the Cards, and four hit home runs. Nick Stavinoha's first career homer, a solo shot in the second inning, opened the scoring. Colby Rasmus and Adam Wainwright hit solo blasts in the fourth, and Chris Duncan added a two-run long ball in the sixth. Duncan had a big game in the No. 2 spot, adding a single and a walk while batting in front of Albert Pujols for the first time this year.
Manager Tony La Russa had moved Duncan from the cleanup position to the No. 2 hole in hopes of getting Duncan going. Whether that was the reason or not, Duncan enjoyed his best game in weeks.
"It can't hurt," Duncan said. "My first hit was on a 3-2 pitch that was a strike. My home run was on a fastball. It's definitely a good spot, having him behind you."
Pujols himself drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single, but was a small part of the outburst rather than a one-man band -- as he has been at times recently. Schumaker had three hits, No. 9 hitter Joe Thurston stanched a slump with a single, a double, a walk and three runs, and Duncan came a few feet from a second home run when he flied out deep to the track in right-center field.
It was a gracious plenty for Wainwright, who hasn't needed much help lately. He kept up the Cards' remarkable run of starting pitching with seven outstanding innings. Wainwright allowed a run on five hits, striking out nine and walking two. He got into trouble in the second inning but escaped, and minimized the damage of a potentially disastrous third, then cruised for the remainder of his outing.
It was the bottom of the third and the top of the fourth where the game was won. Milwaukee loaded the bases with no outs in the third on a single, a walk and a hit batter. Prince Fielder got the Brewers on the board with an RBI groundout, but that was all Milwaukee could muster. Wainwright induced a popup from Mike Cameron and struck out Corey Hart, and that was the end of the trouble.
"That's probably the game right there," Wainwright said. "If they put up a big, crooked number right there, who knows who wins that game? I just told myself I've got to get outs."
Coincidentally or not, it was right after that when the Cardinals broke out at the plate.
The first batter after Wainwright's escape was Rasmus, and the rookie got the run back with a single swing, drilling a home run to center field. Two batters later, Wainwright followed suit and it was 4-1. A Thurston two-out double and a Schumaker RBI single made it 5-1, and the Redbirds never looked back.
Once he had a cushion, Wainwright locked in. He allowed only three more baserunners over his next four innings, and finished with a career-high nine strikeouts.
"That just shows you how good a pitcher Wainwright is," Duncan said. "To turn that into only one run is pretty impressive. And the way he pitched after we got him the lead was unbelievable."
Over his past three starts, Wainwright has allowed three runs on 12 hits in 23 2/3 innings, with 23 strikeouts and five walks. He has lowered his ERA from 4.35 to 3.18 in that span. Meanwhile, in the past eight games, Cardinals starters have gone 6-1 with a 0.77 ERA, 47 strikeouts and eight walks. Only once in that span has a Cards starter allowed more than one run, and no member of the rotation has allowed a homer since May 18.
The win was the Cardinals' first against the Brewers in five meetings this year. They pulled back into a first-place tie with Milwaukee atop the National League Central division.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
It's about damn time our bats showed up. Looks like Wainwright has got some of that confidence back. Todd Wellemeyer and Jason LaRue areteaming back up today, I wonder if it really does give Todd an edge.
Reed JohnsonOriginally Posted by Kiddin Like Jason
Zach Duke.