Add this to the lengthy list of qualities possessed by Adam Wainwright: He knows how to pitch without much run support.
In his past four starts, the Cardinals' ace has pitched eight, seven, eight and eight innings. Through the first seven innings of each, the Cardinals have scored two, one, one and zero runs. Yet, somehow, they won the first three of those starts.
But the lack of support caught up to Wainwright on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium when the only run he allowed, in the eighth inning, was all the Dodgers needed to beat the Cardinals.
"It's disappointing, but I'm not going to hang my head about it," Wainwright told reporters after the Cardinals' sixth 1-0 game of the season (four of which they've won). "We ran up against a tough pitcher in a tough ballpark to win in."
Wainwright issued his only walk (on a couple of very close pitches) to the Dodgers' first batter, Dee Gordon, and then retired the next 15 batters. Miguel Rojas, a minor-league journeyman, got LA's first hit with a single through the hole between shortstop and third leading off the sixth inning.
After the Cardinals threatened in the seventh, the Dodgers used three singles from the bottom half of their order to score in the eighth, leaving the Cardinals with one of their most frustrating losses of the season.
The Cardinals had only seven baserunners against Josh Beckett and the LA bullpen, but two were thrown out on the bases -- both on plays so close that replay reviews were needed. Neither outcome favored the Cardinals.
3 UP
-- Matt Adams. He struck out twice but also was the only Cardinal to reach base two times, with a walk in the fourth and a one-out single in the ninth. His 1-for-3 night left him tied with Jonathan Lucroy for second place in the NL batting race, at .328.
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-- Cardinals defense. They have made only one error in the past six games and have not allowed an unearned run in the past 10. Matt Carpenter and Allen Craig turned in highlight-reel plays behind Wainwright, with Craig coming in to make a sliding catch to take away a hit. Carpenter backhanded a shot down the third-base line, spun and fired to first for the out.
-- Marco Gonzales. A week ago, he was riding the bus with the Springfield Cardinals. Now that he has been told he will start Tuesday at San Francisco, he'll be staying in five-star hotels and enjoying big-league travel for several more days at least. More important, he gets an extra day to prepare for his second start, and this one will be in a pitcher's park.
3 DOWN
-- Peter Bourjos. Is there such a thing as being too fast? For the second straight day, Bourjos slid off second base after he had the base stolen. He got away with it against the Rockies. He did not in the ninth inning Thursday when he easily took the bag but could not stay on the base and was tagged out. Instead of having their fastest runner on second with one out, the Cardinals had two outs and nobody on.
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"That one hurt," manager Mike Matheny said in comments seen on the FOX Sports Midwest postgame show.
"There's a lot of momentum going in there and I lost my balance," Bourjos said. "I couldn't stay on the bag."
-- Instant replay. Yes, a play on Craig at the plate was oh-so-close. But once again, replay did the Cardinals no good. If the initial call had been safe, it is very unlikely it would have been overturned. But the call was out and, though Craig looked safe on one angle, the call was not overturned. You can understand why Matheny has been frustrated by the new system.
From last week: "I believe the system is right," he said. "I believe the system is trying to push technology forward in a way that could be useful for us, but it has frustrated us more than anything else at this point. Things we're seeing are not being seen at the office back in New York. It's helped us very little and hurt us a lot."
Rarely has it hurt more than Craig being called out at home in the seventh inning of a scoreless game. Well, until the Bourjos play two innings later.
-- Shelby Miller. He did not throw his normal in-between-start bullpen session Thursday and later told reporters that soreness in his back is lingering. He also said he believes he will be ready to make his scheduled start Sunday against Clayton Kershaw. We should find out Friday.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
