Adam Wainwright did not rev up his fastball past 91 mph against the Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field.
He didn't need to.
Even without the 96-mph heater he flashed in his previous start, Wainwright was plenty sharp enough to dominate the Cubs in an 8-0 victory that made him the majors' second 20-game winner.
His curve was snapping, his command was precise and he encountered little trouble while working seven scoreless innings. Wainwright struck out eight and allowed only four baserunners, two of them in his final inning.
And if that's not enough superlatives: The scoreless outing was his 12th of the season, he extended his latest scoreless streak to 21 innings and he lowered his ERA to 2.38. Wainwright has put together three scoreless streaks of at least 20 innings this season, the only pitcher besides Ron Guidry and Steve Rogers to manage such a feat since 1974, according to FOX Sports Midwest stats gurus.
He probably wrapped up a fourth top-three Cy Young finish with the performance, too, a showing that would be even better if that other 20-game winner, Clayton Kershaw, pitched in another league.
"I didn't have the juice I had last time on my heater, but my off-speed was very sharp and I was locating most of the time," Wainwright said in a postgame interview televised on FOX Sports Midwest. "You find different ways to win depending on the day and depending on who you're facing."
Wainwright now has two 20-win seasons to go with two seasons of 19 wins, all accomplished over his past five seasons. He became the first Cardinals pitcher to post multiple 20-win seasons since Joaquin Andujar in 1984-85.
"It's a notch on the belt, for sure," said Wainwright, who took the accomplishment in stride.
His manager was a little more impressed.
"You look at the rich tradition of this organization, how many good pitchers have come through here and had long careers and not been able to (win 20 more than once)," manager Mike Matheny said in his presser televised on FSMW. "What makes it even more special is every guy in there understands the kind of teammate he is. He's always figuring out a way to make everybody else better. When you see someone like that have success, you can't help but really celebrate accomplishments like this."
The Cardinals needed to win to reduce their magic number to clinch the NL Central to four and keep their 2 1/2-game lead on the sizzling Pittsburgh Pirates, who shut out the Braves, 1-0.
4 UP
-- Fourth inning. After three scoreless innings against lefty Travis Wood, the Cardinals' offense got busy. The first four batters in the fourth all collected hits and scored, with Jhonny Peralta, Yadier Molina and Jon Jay accounting for the RBIs. It marked the first time the Cardinals scored four runs in an inning since the fourth inning at Milwaukee on Sept. 7. Wainwright also was the winner in that one.
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-- Health. The stomach bug that took out Matt Adams and Matt Carpenter for two games and struck more than 10 other Cardinals seemed to have run its course, according to FOX Sports Midwest reporter Jim Hayes. Marco Gonzales was left behind on Monday and assistant hitting coach David Bell had to head back to the team hotel, but the worst of the illness seemed to be past. Peter Bourjos on Sunday said he never had seen a team hit so hard and so quickly by a bug.
-- The Matts. Carpenter and Adams both struck out in each of their first two trips to the plate, but then their bats started feeling better. Adams went 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run, and Carpenter walked, scored and doubled. The walk was the 92nd for Carpenter, who needs two more to tie Giancarlo Stanton for the NL lead. The other Matt, Holliday, also had a hand in the offensive outburst with two singles and two runs.
-- Carpenter's baserunning. After walking in the fifth, Carpenter advanced to second on a fly to the warning track in center field. Though initially called out, he was ruled safe after Matheny's replay challenge. The hustle play paid off when Carpenter scored on a single by Holliday.
3 DOWN
-- My clinching prediction. There's still a chance the Cardinals can wrap up the NL Central on Wednesday -- the day I called two weeks ago. But with the magic number at four, they have to win Tuesday and Wednesday and the Pirates have to lose their next two games. Otherwise, the Cardinals will be left trying to finish the job this weekend in Arizona. The Pirates haven't lost consecutive games since they were swept at Busch Stadium at the beginning of the month. They are 14-6 in September, the Cardinals 15-6.
-- Wainwright's hitting. Hey, when a team wins 8-0, coming up with a "3 down" is a challenge. So let's pick on Wainwright, who fancies himself a hitter. For a pitcher, he is. He's second to Madison Bumgarner in hits for pitchers this season. But on this night, Wainwright did not even hit the ball in fair territory. He struck out in all three of his plate appearances, his first three-strikeout game since last June.
-- Making contact. Wainwright wasn't the only Cardinals batter to have difficulty making contact. They struck out 11 times as a team, eight against Wood.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
