Wainwright (4 RBIs) powers Cardinals past Rockies

[September 21, 2016]  DENVER -- After his second start this season, St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright made an adjustment -- not on the mound but in the batters box.

Determined to be a better hitter and aware that his knowledge of the strike zone was lacking, Wainwright moved closer to home plate.

The results have been evident this season, and never more so than Tuesday night when Wainwright's career-high four RBIs helped the Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 10-5, spoiling the final start of the season for Jorge De La Rosa and most likely his last in a nine-year run with the Rockies.

The Cardinals' fourth straight win tied them with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants for the top wild-card spot in the National League. The San Francisco Giants joined the party after posting a 2-0 victory at Dodger Stadium later Tuesday.

Wainwright doubled home two runs in the third off De La Rosa and singled home two runs in the fifth off Eddie Butler. Ten of Wainwright's 13 hits this season have gone for extra bases -- seven doubles, one triple and two homers.

Wainwright's 18 RBIs this season are the most for a Cardinals starting pitcher since Hall of Famer Bob Gibson drove in 19 runs in 1970.

"Getting on top of the plate a little bit more has allowed me to have better plate coverage," Wainwright said.

And instead of worrying about pulling the ball too much and being more conscious of hitting the ball up the middle or to right field, Wainwright developed a more aggressive mind set with his new approach.

"Enough of this Punch-and-Judy junk," Wainwright said. "Just go ahead and let it fly and see what happens."

Wainwright (12-9) turned 35 three weeks ago and with a 4.57 ERA in 31 starts has shown his age this season. He worked 5 1/3 innings, the third time in four starts he has failed to reach the sixth, and gave up four runs.

David Dahl singled home a run with two outs in the first, and Wainwright gave up solo homers to Daniel Descalso in the fourth with a 5-1 lead, Charlie Blackmon in the fifth when the Cardinals were ahead 8-2 and Gerado Parra to end his outing at 96 pithes in the sixth with the Cardinals leading 9-3.

"The only thing I was disappointed about tonight is I got a big lead and I let that affect the way I was finishing some pitches," Wainwright said. "And I left a couple balls in the middle of the plate that I would never normally do."

Matt Adams and Jedd Gyorko homered against De La Rosa (8-9), who gave up seven hits and eight runs (seven earned) in 4 2/3 innings. He threw 98 pitches, 35 in the three-run second when the Cardinals batted around with three hits while De La Rosa hit two batters and walked another.

De La Rosa left the Rockies' clubhouse before the media entered after the game.

Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

"He seemed like he didn't have a great command of the secondary stuff like the changeup," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It usually is his best weapon, but he had a hard time throwing strikes whether they were laying off it. Got some difficult counts, and it looked like he just didn't have a lot of depth to his stuff. His sinker and his slider kind of flattened out on him a bit tonight."

De La Rosa, 35, can be a free agent after this season and is unlikely to return to the Rockies. He has allowed five or more runs in four straight starts has gone winless in five outings (0-2) since Aug. 21.

Wainwright is 9-1 with a 1.70 ERA against the Rockies in 14 games (10 starts). At Coors Field, he is 3-0, 2.73 in five games (four starts).

"You have to focus down a little bit more than you normally do." Wainwright said. "You have to focus on your finish a little bit more than you normally do. It's a good teach; when you get out of here, normally your next start, you're executing pretty good because everything that you throw here, it's got to have that late bite. It's got to have that last second finish.

"If you're solid and compact in your delivery and thinking about out front and on top of the baseball, you'll throw good pitches here."

NOTES: Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu extended his career-high on-base streak to 36 games and kept his average at .349, giving him a two-point lead over Washington's Daniel Murphy in the National League batting race ... Colorado manager Walt Weiss said he would like to give INF Pat Valaika and OF/1B Jordan Patterson a couple starts. Both players were recalled earlier this month from Triple-A Albuquerque and have appeared in, but not started any games. ...Cardinals CF Randal Grichuk scored a career-high four runs... Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz did not play. He has been back less than two weeks from a fractured right thumb and is not consistently able to throw at full strength. ... Cardinals LF Matt Holliday (fractured right thumb) took batting practice for the second straight day and could face live pitching as soon as Thursday.

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