ST. LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright left the mound at Busch Stadium the same way he almost always has when he faced the Pirates.
To applause.
The veteran Cardinal righty quieted Pirates batters yet again Saturday, giving six strong innings en route to a 3-1 Pirates loss to the Cardinals.
It was a day where his opponent, JT Brubaker, gave a quality start as well, but the Cardinals were in control throughout.
“[He] has World Series rings,” Brubaker said in admiration of his opponent. “He's done almost everything you can in this game.”
Torturing the Pirates in this ballpark for nearly a decade falls under “almost everything you can do.”
As a franchise, the house of horrors motif has popped up a couple times for the Pirates, most notably in Milwaukee. But Busch Stadium and Wainwright is as deadly a combination as the Pirates have encountered.
The last time the Pirates beat Wainwright in St. Louis was June 29, 2012. Drew Sutton batted leadoff that day for the Pirates. Pedro Alvarez drove in four runs. Kevin Correia got the win.
Since then, he has made 16 starts at home against the Pirates, including two in the postseason, and pitched to a 2.01 ERA in that stretch. While the Pirates managed to win two of those games against the Cardinals bullpen in that stretch, Wainwright twice went seven innings with only one run allowed in those games.
You can point to 22 straight losses in Milwaukee as a counter, but those were some bad Pirates teams from 2007-2010. The Pirates have had four winning seasons and three playoff berths since this streak against Wainwright started. There have been years where they were good. There were years where Wainwright was bad.
It didn’t matter, the result stayed the same, as did his looping breaking pitches.
“We saw the good breaking ball,” Derek Shelton, who has now been on the other side of two of these Wainwright-at-Busch starts now, said about his performance Saturday. “He was able to execute it ahead in the count, behind in the count, and I think that’s what gave us fits. He executed it in the zone. He executed it for chase. Then when he needed to do other things with the fastball off it, he did. He did a nice job keeping us off-balance.”
Wainwright’s lone blemish on the night was a solo home run to Gregory Polanco. He struck out eight over his six frames.
“He’s just a good pitcher, obviously,” Colin Moran said. “He’s a Hall of Famer.”
If Wainwright does wind up in Cooperstown someday, his continued dominance against the Pirates might be what boosts his stats over the edge.
Perhaps the Pirates can finally get to him on their last trip to St. Louis from August 20-22. Or maybe the streak will extend another start.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Shelton admitted after the game that Brubaker did not have his best stuff Saturday, but he battled through to give the Pirates at least a chance.
"We talk about Brubaker continuing to get better," Shelton said. "He did not have his best stuff today and battled... Had to battle throughout the entire game. But the fact that he was able to give us six [innings] and execute pitches is just another sign that this guy is going to be a good major league starter."
Brubaker was tagged for a pair of solo homers, one by Paul DeJong on a hanging, thigh-high slider, the other against Paul Goldschmidt, who tagged a high four-seamer 470 feet to center:
Despite that, Brubaker battled through, making an adjustment to his slider since it was "spinning" instead of breaking.
"That's something you learn along the way in baseball," Brubaker said. "I don't have it the first two innings. Let's see if I can make an adjustment. Change your eyesight. Start it a little more outside if it's not breaking as tight. It's just little things you can pick up to allow yourself to continue to throw it, and hopefully find it throughout the start."
That ties into what Shelton said about him continuing to get better in his sophomore season.
"Just being able to make an adjustment like that, it's also going to help you be ready for a new game," Brubaker said.
• Not to take anything away from Wainwright, but it's amazing how quickly this offense turns when a player or two gets a day to rest.
Without Ke'Bryan Hayes or Jacob Stallings in the lineup, the Pirates mustered just one run on seven hits. Polanco's fourth-inning home run accounted for the only tally, and Moran doubled in the eighth for the only other extra-base hit.
Reynolds did extend his hitting streak to 11 games, but Hayes' on-base streak was snapped at 29 (dating back to last season) after he grounded into a fielder's choice in his only plate appearance.
• While in a losing effort, Chris Stratton continues to be one of the most reliable members of the Pirates' bullpen. While he had to work around a pair of walks in the seventh, he still put up a zero.
Over his last 20 games, dating back to May 1, he has pitched to a 0.95 ERA (three earned runs over 28 1/3 innings). Perhaps more importantly, going back to the start of last season, no reliever can match his 71 2/3 innings pitched. That comes from him doing everything from late-inning spots to middle relief.
“He’s been very efficient, very functional,” Shelton said Friday. “He’s been very good. You need a guy like that in your bullpen that you can kind of Swiss Army knife into a bunch of different roles.”
• Some quick housekeeping to get through: All is fine with Kyle Crick's foot after he had to make a kick save last night on a comebacker. He's a little sore, but Shelton did not give any indication that it is anything serious.
Before the game, the Pirates signed veteran right-hander Shelby Miller to a minor-league deal. He will head to Indianapolis. More on that here.
Geoff Hartlieb is expected to be optioned to the minors Sunday to make room for Max Kranick, who will make his major league debut. Hartlieb threw a scoreless eighth inning Saturday.
THE ESSENTIALS
Boxscore
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Colin Moran, 1B
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Gregory Polanco, RF
Phillip Evans, 3B
Michael Pérez, C
Erik González, SS
Ka'ai Tom, LF
JT Brubaker, P
And for Mike Shildt's Cardinals:
Dylan Carlson, CF
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Tyler O'Neill, LF
Yadier Molina, C
Tommy Edman, 2B
Lars Nootbaar, RF
Paul DeJong, SS
Adam Wainwright, P
THE SCHEDULE
Kranick will make his major league debut in the series finale Sunday. More on that here. He'll oppose Johan Oviedo (0-3, 4.62), with first pitch coming at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
IN THE SYSTEM
• Gerard has you covered for Nick Gonzales' return to the Greensboro Grasshoppers Saturday. Read it here.
• Affiliate scores
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE CONTENT
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