Adam Wainwright picked up right where he left off on his rain-shortened Opening Day start to lead the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals, the Cards’ fourth straight win after dropping their first game of the year.
Wainwright acted like the staff ace, allowing only two runs on eight hits over eight innings while striking out four and walking only one. In addition to his solid pitching effort, Wainwright helped his own cause with a two-out hit, which was followed by another hit from number 9 hitter Cesar Izturis, giving the Cards the lead in the 2nd inning. Yadier Molina added to the lead the next inning with a two run single to score Rick Ankiel and Albert Pujols. Washington first baseman Nick Johnson got the Nationals on the board with an RBI single in the fourth, then Cardinals second baseman Adam Kennedy made the web gem of the year so far, diving full-extension up the middle to rob Austin Kearns of a hit and keep the inning from getting out of hand. Wainwright settled down and cruised until the 8th inning, when he gave up a solo homerun to Johnson. The Cards added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning when Kennedy scored what would end up being the deciding run on a passed ball. Anthony Reyes appeared in relief of Wainwright in the 9th and gave up a 2 run homerun to Nats catcher Jesus Flores cut the lead to 5-4. Lefty Randy Flores then closed out the game by securing the final out.
The Cardinals starting pitching staff, thought to be the weak spot of this team coming into the season, has been the pleasant surprise of the young year, with the starters combining for a 4-0 record with a 1.17 ERA. Kyle Lohse will try to keep the train rolling at 1:15pm (Central time) Sunday against Nationals lefty John Lannan.
