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 That is exactly what he got from third baseman Matt Carpenter,
who did his fair share on offense as well.
Thanks in large part to Carpenter and the rest of the Cardinals'
error-free defense, Wainwright extracted a measure of revenge
against the San Francisco Giants, throwing 7 2/3 innings of shutout
ball in a 2-0 victory Wednesday night.
Wainwright became the National League's first 11-game winner with a
four-hit effort, then was quick to share the credit afterward.
"They battled me very tough all night," he said of the Giants, who
shelled Wainwright for a season-worst seven runs in 4 1/3 innings in
a 9-4 Cardinals home loss on May 30. "They were hitting the ball
hard right at people (Wednesday). The guys made some great plays
behind me."
Carpenter made two of them, once going airborne to snare a line
drive off the bat of Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval, and
another time to record the rare 5-unassisted out on a sacrifice bunt
when he charged the plate so hard, he was able to field opposing
pitching Ryan Vogelsong's bunt and tag him out just a few feet
outside the batter's box.
"Adam does a good job of keeping the defense in the game," Carpenter
said of his pitcher, who walked just two in the game. "Tonight we
made some good plays for him."
Carpenter also continued his mastery of the Giants at the plate with
three hits, including a run-scoring single. The Cardinals beat San
Francisco for just the second time in six meetings this season while
evening the current three-game series at 1-1.
 Wainwright dominated the rematch with the Giants until leaving the
game with two on in the eighth. Right-hander Pat Neshek, called upon
to face a left-handed hitter, induced Giants center fielder Gregor
Blanco to pop out on a full-count pitch to end the inning.
Closer Trevor Rosenthal survived an overturned call at first base,
which gave Giants right fielder Hunter Pence an inning-opening
single in the ninth, for his 25th save.
"That was a big win for us," said Wainwright, who took over the
National League ERA lead at 1.89. "You take every win you can get
right now."
Wainwright (11-4) followed up his loss to the Giants with a 2-1
record and 1.16 ERA in the month of June. He continued his fine form
Wednesday, earning his seventh road win of the season.
Right-hander Ryan Vogelsong (5-5) was the hard-luck loser for the
Giants, who for the second week in a row failed to build upon any
momentum gained by a Tim Lincecum shutout.
Lincecum, who no-hit the San Diego Padres last Wednesday one night
before the Giants were silenced 3-1 by the Cincinnati Reds' Mike
Leake, blanked the Cardinals over eight innings in San Francisco's
5-0 win in Tuesday's series opener.
Vogelsong, who has not received a single run of support while on the
mound in either of his past two starts, refused to blame Giants
hitters for his consecutive defeats.
"They'll start swinging it," he said. "You go through stuff. You
either get through it and get stronger, or you don't get through it
and finish last. We'll get through it."
Carpenter, batting leadoff, went 3-for-4 to lead the Cardinals'
eight-hit attack. St. Louis had accumulated a .176 batting average
in its first five games against the Giants this season.
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Carpenter began the night with the best batting average (.500) of
any San Francisco opponent with at least 50 plate appearances
against the club. He improved that mark to .520 (26-for-50) by
night's end, extending his hitting streak against the Giants to 10
games.
"I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it," Carpenter said of
his run against the Giants. "I don't see them as any different than
any other team."
Left fielder Matt Holliday also had a multi-hit game for the
Cardinals, contributing two singles and an RBI to the win, St.
Louis' fourth in nine games on a 10-game trip that ends Thursday.
Vogelsong, who allowed only five hits and one run in a similar loss
to Cincinnati in his previous start, was pulled after seven innings
with the Giants trailing 2-0. Four of the six hits he allowed came
in the third inning, when the Cardinals scored the game's only two
runs. He struck out eight and walked one.
Second baseman Joe Panik, just 2-for-17 on the Giants' homestand
entering the game, had two of San Francisco's five hits.
The Giants, now 2-7 on their homestand, have not won consecutive
games at home since June 7-8.
Carpenter's second hit, a third-inning single, got the Cardinals on
the scoreboard and ended the team's 26-inning scoreless drought. It
also gave St. Louis its first lead since Friday night against the
Los Angeles Dodgers.
The hit scored center fielder Oscar Taveras, who led off the inning
with a double.
Holliday followed Carpenter's RBI single with one of his own,
scoring second baseman Mark Ellis to make it 2-0.
NOTES: Cardinals pitchers lead the National League with 16 shutouts.
... Giants CF Angel Pagan will get an epidural injection Thursday in
Los Angeles in hopes of soothing a bulging back disk. The Giants
hope Pagan will be ready to begin baseball-related activities as
early as Monday. ... St. Louis' Oscar Taveras started in center
field for the first time. He played right field in all 12 of his
previous games for the Cardinals. ... San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt
went 2-for-4 for Triple-A Fresno on Wednesday in what was scheduled
to be his final rehab appearance. The Giants are expected to
activate Belt from the disabled list Friday. ... Cardinals 2B Kolten
Wong (bruised left shoulder) and RHP Joe Kelly (strained left
hamstring) made encouraging rehab starts for Triple-A Memphis on
Tuesday. Wong belted a three-run homer in his first game for
Memphis, while Kelly, in his second minor league start, pitched four
shutout innings.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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