Timely hits are something that has eluded the Cardinals at various points this season.
Last night was not one of those times.
Harrison Bader and Paul DeJong both came through in key spots, backing another strong performance by Adam Wainwright and sending St. Louis to a 4-2 in Cleveland, their seventh win in the last ten games.
The game was scoreless in the top of the third when Bader came to the plate. On a 2-2 pitch from Indians starter Cal Quantrill, Bader homered to the opposite field, putting St. Louis on top 1-0.
Cleveland would respond with a two-run homer off the bat of Jose Ramirez an inning later, and Quantrill appeared to have settled into a groove, even escaping a bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth. But things would change when the Indians went to their bullpen.
After a costly baserunning mistake by Tommy Edman, the Cardinals went to work with two outs in the seventh against Indians reliever Bryan Shaw, getting a base hit from Matt Carpenter, which then brought the red-hot DeJong to the plate.
After working the count to 1-2, DeJong let one fly, putting St. Louis back in front 3-2 and providing just enough run support to put Wainwright in position to win the game.
“I keep telling guys, our lineup from top to bottom can get you,” said Wainwright, who went seven innings and allowed just two runs while striking out eight. “If you make a bad pitch, we’ve got a lot of guys with power in there.”
St. Louis also took advantage of wildness from Phil Maton, adding a run on a walk to Dylan Carlson in the ninth. Alex Reyes then took the mound and retired the side, securing the win for St. Louis.
The win also might just paint a clearer picture of what the Cards’ trade deadline outlook may be, as they continue to search for starting pitching.
Regardless of what happens, you can expect Wainwright to play a big role in the Cardinals stretch run.
“He was tremendous again,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Just made pitches when he needed to and was really sharp.”
Couple that with the impending return of Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas, and St. Louis’ rotation may soon be back to normal.
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