Adam Wainwright Goes Distance as Cardinals Move Past Pirates, 6-1, onto NLCS

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 9, 2013

American League

There were no AL games on Wednesday. Game five of the ALDS between Oakland and Detroit begins Thursday at 8:07 pm EDT in Oakland.

National League

When it came down to the deciding game, the Cardinals went to their ace while the Pirates went with a rookie.

Guess what happened.

David Freese socked a second-inning, two-run homer off Pittsburgh starter, Gerrit Cole, and St. Louis' Adam Wainwright made it stand up with a complete-game win as the Cardinals cruised into the NL championship series with a 6-1 victory in game five.

Adam Wainwright

Cole pitched well, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out five, but not as well as Wainwright, who gave up eight hits but allowed only one run, that coming in the seventh, when Justin Morneau scored from second on a ball hit by Pedro Alvarez that went off the first base bag and was snagged by Cardinal shortstop, Matt Carpenter. A double play - one of three turned by the St. Louis infield - ended the inning with the next batter.

Wainwright walked one and fanned six. He was consistently around the plate with a dazzling assortment of off-speed curve balls and sliders, and the occasional fast ball, throwing 74 of 107 pitches for strikes. The lean, 6'7" right-hander also won game one of the series, a 7-1 victory for St. Louis. In that outing, Wainwright allowed one run on three hits over seven innings. Wednesday's effort was his first post-season complete game and his fourth playoff win without a loss.

First-baseman, Matt Adams, filling in for the injured Allen Craig, smashed a mammoth two-run homer in the eighth, adding to the St. Louis lead. Matt Holliday went 2-for-4 and was on base for both Cardinal homers.

A leading Cy Young candidate, Wainwright finished the regular season with 19 wins, tied with Washington's Jordan Zimmermann for the most in the National League. Hs 219 Ks were third-most in the league and his 2.94 ERA, seventh.

The Cardinals will host the LA Dodgers in game one of the best-of-seven NL championship series, beginning Friday.

Today's Trivia: True or false: Including the National Association (1871-1875) there have been more than 300,000 home runs hit in the entire history of major league baseball. (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: The St. Louis Cardinals have won 10 World Series, the most by any National League franchise.