St. Louis in trouble with star Wainwright out of whack

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 Oktober 2014 | 18.18

ST. LOUIS — Other than their ace not being right and their hitters unable to score against the Giants over the past four postseason games, the Cardinals are off to a flying start in this NLCS.

Adam Wainwright is not close to being the ace he has been in the past and without him, St. Louis is in trouble up to its Arch.

Wainwright could not get through the fifth inning for his second straight postseason start and this time his hitters were not there to pick him up, as the Cardinals came up 3-0 losers to Madison Bumgarner and the Giants on Saturday night at a subdued Busch Stadium in Game 1 of the NLCS.

The right-hander is convinced he can get his act together for his next start — if he gets another start. While admitting his elbow is not completely right, he said Saturday night's issues were more connected to bad mechanics, pointed out to him by veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski, than a bad elbow.

Part of that may be whistling past the graveyard, but driven pitchers like Wainwright will never give in mentally.

"When I make a couple of these mechanical adjustments, I'll be in a much better position to throw the baseball next time out,'' Wainwright said.

How can Wainwright's mechanics be so far off this late in the season?

He explained he didn't do any bullpen sessions in September because he was trying to save his bullets for games. He did admit that in his last start against the Dodgers, because of his elbow issue, he could not deliver the ball properly because he could not pronate his right arm.

On this night his stride was too short and he was not reaching back properly.

Give Wainwright credit for trying to come up with a reason for his troubles.

"I'm going to do a million mirror drills,'' he said. "My arm is now in a position where I can throw a bullpen [session].''

Clean up the mechanics and he'll clean up again on the mound, he promised.

In their last four games against the Giants in the postseason, the Cardinals have scored one run.

That's not going to get it done in any league.

It was so quiet here that at one point a beer vendor in the third deck behind home plate was crying out, "I've got beer for believers!''

He didn't sell any brew in that section so he added, "No believers.''

It is hard to believe in the Cardinals with Wainwright struggling and the bats silent.

Wainwright's breaking balls were not sharp and his fastball was lacking explosion as the Giants scored three runs in the second and third innings. That seemed like 10 the way the Giants pitchers have shut down the Cardinals.

Wainwright has thrown 200 pitches in this postseason, covering a total of nine innings and has allowed 17 hits, nine runs, eight earned while only striking out seven batters. Wainwright managed only 4 ¹/₃ innings against the Dodgers, and Saturday night made it to just 4 ²/₃ innings.

This was the shortest home playoff start of his career. He had to throw 36 pitches in the second to get out of the inning, the most pitchers he has ever thrown in a postseason inning.

If the Cardinals are going to win this series, they are going to have to get a huge lift from their other three starters — Lance Lynn, John Lackey and Shelby Miller. Lynn goes against veteran
Jake Peavy on Sunday night. Peavy has pieced it back together, being back with Bruce Bochy.

The Giants are on a bigger roll than the Royals, having won nine straight postseason series, the longest streak since the Yankees won 11 series in a row from 1998-2001.

"My arm doesn't feel great, but it certainly should be a lot better than that,'' Wainwright said. "I was definitely not sharp but I don't ever think I'm going to lose.''

Brave talk, but at this point, with Wainwright all wrong, the Cardinals don't have much of a chance.


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