|
 "Typical Waino," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We needed
something, and he gave it to us."
Wainwright had his sixth quality start in eight appearances and
became the National League's first six-game winner Wednesday in the
Cardinals' 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Wainwright (6-2) kept the Braves off balance most of the night by
changing speeds effectively and getting ahead in the count. He threw
103 pitches, 72 for strikes, and four times stranded runners at
second base. Wainwright allowed six hits, struck out six and walked
one.
Matheny debated whether to let Wainwright complete the game, but the
manager opted to use Seth Maness in the ninth in a non-save
situation.
Wainwright improved to 8-2 against Atlanta, the team that drafted
him and traded him to St. Louis in 2004. It was his 105th career
win, which moved him into a tie with Mort Cooper for ninth on the
team's all-time list.
Third baseman Matt Carpenter, left fielder Matt Holliday and center
fielder Peter Bourjos each had three hits for the Cardinals, who
totaled 13 off four Atlanta pitchers.
St. Louis has won three of its last four, while Atlanta has lost
eight of its last nine.
Atlanta's Mike Minor (0-2) was not effective in his second start
since returning from the disabled list. Minor gave up six runs on 11
hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings, with six strikeouts. Minor
allowed at least one run in four of the five innings he started.
"His secondary pitches were not really sharp," Braves manager Fredi
Gonzalez said. "They were kind of roly-poly over the strike zone and
Wainwright was pretty good. It was not so good for our guy and real
good for their guy, and that's the kind of game you're going to
get."
The Cardinals got a run in the second inning when Bourjos hit his
first homer of the season. Bourjos lined the first pitch he saw from
Minor into the stands in left-center field.
"That was a big spark for us," Matheny said. "Sometimes that's
something Wainwright needs."
St. Louis tacked on another run in the third inning. Wainwright led
off with a double off the wall in left. Third baseman Matt Carpenter
bunted down the third-base line; Minor fielded it and considered
throwing to third but wound up throwing late to first.
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With runners on the corners, catcher Yadier Molina grounded into a
double play that allowed Wainwright to score. The Braves got a run
back in the third inning. Left fielder Justin Upton lined a double
into the gap in left and scored when first baseman Freddie Freeman
hooked an opposite-field double into the left-field corner.
"We had a chance to get back in it and we didn't get a run,"
Gonzalez said.
The Cards scored three times in the fourth. Bourjos singled and went
to third on a single by Wainwright. Bourjos scored on Carpenter's
opposite-field single to left that came on a no-ball, two-strike
count. After Molina walked to load the bases, Holliday fisted a
two-RBI single into left.
St. Louis added another run in the fifth. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta
doubled and scored one out later on a single by Bourjos.
St. Louis scored again in the ninth off left-handed reliever Luis
Avilan. Carpenter doubled and scored on Holliday's two-out single.
NOTES: Georgia State University in Atlanta has made a proposal to
purchase and develop Turner Field and the surrounding parking lots.
The school would convert the park into a football stadium with a
capacity of around 30,000. The school currently plays football in
the Georgia Dome. Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said he knew of four
active proposals for Turner Field, which will be vacant when the
Braves move to suburban Cobb County in 2017. ... Atlanta signed 2B
David Nick, 24, to a minor league contract. Nick was Arizona's
fourth-round draft choice in 2009 and never got higher than
Double-A. Nick was assigned to Class A Lynchburg.
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