OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Adam
Wainwright pitched a five-hitter to become the NL's second 11-game
winner, Matt Adams had his first two-homer game and the St. Louis
Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 7-1 Saturday.
Wainwright (11-5) tied Washington's
Jordan Zimmerman for most wins in the NL. He struck out eight and walked
two in a 112-pitch performance for his fourth complete game this year
and 15th of his career.
What appeared a pitcher's duel in the
making changed quickly when A's starter Jarrod Parker left in the fourth
inning with tightness in his right hamstring on an unusually hot Bay
Area afternoon.
Adams hit a three-run homer to highlight a four-run sixth and a solo shot in the eighth.
Josh Reddick's RBI single in the eighth provided the lone A's run on a dominant day by Wainwright.
Daniel Descalso broke a scoreless tie
with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and the Cardinals gave Wainwright
plenty of support to take sole possession of the team lead in wins ahead
of Lance Lynn's 10.
Wainwright appeared to have no issues
this time after objecting to manager Mike Matheny's decision to pull him
after 6 2/3 innings in a loss to Texas last Sunday.
After a 1-2-3 first inning on nine
pitches, Wainwright was on his way. A's No. 9 hitter Derek Norris
singled with two outs in the third for the first hit off Wainwright, who
snapped a two-start skid.
Wainwright got through the seventh on
seven pitches. The right-hander faced the A's for just the second time
in his career after beating Oakland on June 19, 2010, in St. Louis while
allowing one earned run in eight innings.
He had a career-high five complete games in 2010, and is now one away from that.
A sold-out Coliseum crowd of 35,067
braved the hot temperatures to watch Wainwright keep the A's batters off
balance - they didn't get a three-ball count until Coco Crisp walked in
the eighth as the 28th hitter of the game. Wainwright threw 21 of his
pitches that inning.
While the first-pitch temperature was an A's season-high 84 degrees, Matheny is loving the lively atmosphere this series.
"It reminds me of the Dominican and Puerto Rico, a lot of drums and excitement," he said.
Parker went down after grabbing his
right hamstring and stretching for several minutes with athletic trainer
Nick Paparesta before throwing some warmup pitches. Jesse Chavez
relieved.
Chavez (1-2), who pitched 5 2/3
scoreless innings of relief for victory in an 18-inning win against the
Yankees on June 13, was done after 1 1/3 innings this time. Carlos
Beltran doubled starting the sixth, and Allen Craig followed with a
single to chase Chavez.
Jerry Blevins surrendered an RBI single to Matt Holliday, then Adams' first-pitch homer that broke open the game.
Holliday faced repeated boos while in
left field and at the plate from his former fans. He briefly played for
the A's in 2009, all of 93 games.
NOTES: The Cardinals are sticking
with rookie Shelby Miller on schedule despite his struggles. "He's going
to go back out there and do what he was doing," Matheny said. ... A's C
John Jaso missed his seventh straight start with a cut on his left hand
but was available off the bench. Manager Bob Melvin had hoped to get
him back Friday night, but the concern is that he still can't catch or
hit through a full game. ... A's C Stephen Vogt received 100-plus text
messages in addition to greetings on Facebook and Twitter after his
first major league hit - and home run - Friday night ended an 0-for-33
start. "It's really neat to get everybody's support," he said. ...
Umpires received water between innings. ... Wainwright is 8-5 in
interleague play. ... LHP Tommy Milone looks to snap a four-start
winless stretch with his first win since June 3 in Sunday's finale
against St. Louis RHP Jake Westbrook.
