Yadier Molina embraces Adam Wainwight after complete game on 39th birthday

There are few birthday presents better than a complete game victory for Adam Wainwright

Working on your birthday is never ideal, especially during a pandemic. Such is the life of a professional baseball player, and Wainwright made the most of it by pitching all nine innings and giving up just two runs. Per Wainwright, he even texted manager Mike Shildt promising that he’d deliver a win on his 39th birthday. That takes some guts.

“That’s the stuff legends are made of,” Shildt would add.

The Cardinals recent slide hasn’t helped their standing in the NL Central. It’s been a long season for St. Louis after their COVID-19 nightmare, and the Cards needed a clutch performance from their ace to get back to their winning ways. He gave them just that, and then celebrated with an old friend.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1300172748245925889

Yadier Molina was thrilled to share that moment with Adam Wainwright

“To be honest I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about it,” Molina said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Really special. To be in this moment with him, to be with him for many years, on his birthday — to do that. It’s unbelievable. It’s a moment we’re going to remember forever. … Waino is 39 but he looks lot younger than that. He’s got more baseball in him.”

As solid as Wainwright has been this year, the question does remain: Is he an effective postseason ace or No. 2? And will the Cardinals even get to that point?

It’s understandable the Cards would have trouble adjusting to a schedule loaded with double-headers. Such is the unfortunate reality for a team that was forced to miss several weeks of the season while recovering from a COVID-19 outbreak.

St. Louis’ rotation, which has remained intact to this point thanks to Wainwright, Jack Flaherty and Co., must continue to carry this team through a brutal stretch. Thankfully, an expanded playoff field should help matters.