Adam Wainwright is less than three weeks shy of his 40th birthday.
Yet the veteran right-hander continues to pitch as if he’s in his prime, not showing his age as he seemingly gets better every time he pitches.
Wainwright continues to defy father time, and did so again Wednesday in Pittsburgh, tossing his 11th career complete-game shutout, striking out seven and even racking up two hits in the Cardinals 4-0 win over the Pirates. Wainwright only threw a total of 88 pitches.
“When he’s executing so well like that, the defense just flows so well,” said Harrison Bader, who helped his pitcher’s cause by making three spectacular plays in center field. “Everybody’s in it. There’s no lapse in focus or lapse in flow, and you literally could not ask for more from a starting pitcher.”
It was the first time a Cardinals pitcher had thrown a “Maddux” since Chris Carpenter, Wainwright’s mentor, did it in 2011.
“I didn’t look at my pitch count all day because I knew it was low but I didn’t want to get in my mind, anything,” said Wainwright. “I thought for the first time I had a chance at a Maddux, you know a CG with less than a 100 (pitches), but I’ve taken a couple into the ninth inning with like 90 or 88 and I just go over it, just barely. So I knew I was pretty low but I did not want to think about it. All I wanted to do was think about was executing pitches and keep it simple, not change anything from a mindset standpoint from inning to inning.”
Wednesday’s shutout also marked the third time Wainwright had thrown a complete game this year, and 27th over his illustrious career.
“He put on an absolute display on how to go about your business as a professional major league pitcher,” said manager Mike Shildt. “Controlled counts, kept hitters off-balance, the art of pitching, and controlled the whole way. Threw to both sides of the plate, good sinker, a lot of ground balls, and let his defense work.
And to think that three years ago, when he was struggling with elbow injuries that he’d throw a shutout just mere weeks away from his 40th birthday, makes it all the more impressive.
“My wife still thinks I’m cute. She’s watching,” Wainwright joked. “I got her tricked, so just keep tricking them.”
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