Adam Wainwright sparkles in NL-leading 13th win

Remember when there were preseason concerns about St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright? It may seem like a lifetime ago, but the doubters were real, and they’ve been completely deflated by the outstanding performance of the right-hander.

Wainwright pitched yet another gem, going 8 innings and allowing only 2 earned runs while striking out 7, in route to his National League leading 13th win of the season. The “highlight” of the night was Allen Craig’s leaping catch (for the final out) that saved the 3-2 victory, but it was Wainwright’s dominance that led the way for St. Louis.

It is laughable to consider that an 8-inning, 2-walk performance would significant raise Wainwright’s walk rate for the year, but that was the case here. He entered the game with an almost laughable 0.92 BB/9 ratio, but even with his “down” performance, Wainwright still leads all of baseball with a sparkling 0.99 BB/9 rate. He was absolutely tremendous throughout, and it is now almost surprising to see him allow walks and/or runs.

The Cards’ offense did just enough to send their starter to a win on Sunday afternoon. The aforementioned Allen Craig accounted for the team’s first run on an RBI single in the 3rd, and David Freese finished their scoring with a 2-run double later in the inning.

St. Louis is absolutely scorching right now, and they are the owners of the NL’s best record at 59-37. However, they certainly wouldn’t be in this position without the greatness of Adam Wainwright, and he reminded us all of that fact with another “ho hum” outing on Sunday.