PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Wainwright drove in three runs and survived five occasionally bumpy innings to pick up his first victory since mid-July as the St. Louis Cardinals drummed the staggering Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6 on Monday.
Wainwright hit an RBI-double off Chad Kuhl (3-3) in the second and added a two-run single in the fourth as the Cardinals held on to the second wild card spot in the National League by sending the Pirates to their seventh straight loss.
Wainwright (10-8) allowed four runs and struck out five as his ERA rose to 4.61. He hardly needed to be sharp as the Cardinals battered Pittsburgh’s beleaguered pitching staff.
Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier hit home runs for the Pirates, who have been outscored 47-22 during their current slide.
A week ago the Pirates were well within striking distance of the Cardinals for a playoff spot but have fallen 4 1/2 games behind St. Louis and dropped below .500 (67-68) for the first time since July 2.
St. Louis pounded out 14 hits — eight for extra bases — against five pitchers and wasted little time getting to Kuhl, who has been steady if not spectacular since joining the rotation full-time a month ago.
Wainwright’s double to the wall in center field put the Cardinals in front and Stephen Piscotty’s two-run double later in the inning gave Wainwright an early cushion, one he flirted with giving away. Pittsburgh touched him for two runs in the bottom of the inning but Wainwright avoided major damage.
Jeff Locke came on relief of Kuhl in the third and the Cardinals quickly went to work. Kolten Wong’s RBI single against him made it 4-2 and Gyorko opened the fourth with a long home run down the left-field line for his 26th of the year. Wainwright’s bloop to left later in the inning pushed St. Louis’ lead to six runs and allowed Wainwright to leave after five innings in which he needed 93 pitches to get 15 outs.
