Wainwright goes for first victory of season as Cards face Reds
Though the St. Louis Cardinals have rebounded nicely from a rough opening series, Adam Wainwright has yet to find a formula for success.
Trying a third time for his first victory Saturday, the veteran right-hander looks to continue his recent dominance of Cincinnati by sending the Reds to their first 0-5 road start since 1984.
St. Louis (6-4) has won six of seven since being swept in a three-game set at Pittsburgh. While Wainwright (0-1, 6.55 ERA) is certainly pleased with his team's recent success, he's mired in his own personal struggles on the hill.
He allowed three runs, six hits and walked three in six innings of a 4-1 loss to the Pirates to open the season. The three-time All-Star was worse Sunday, giving up five runs, six hits and issuing a career high-tying five walks in a 12-7 win at Atlanta.
"Ties my career-high-of frustration level, too," Wainwright told MLB's official website. "I'm so far from where I can be and where I want to be. It's very, very frustrating. I'm so upset about the way the ball is coming out right now."
Wainwright hoped spending some time between those first two starts dissecting video of his pitching and checking out his delivery through the use of a mirror would help. Instead, he's grown more agitated.
"It's very frustrating, because my body feels good," said Wainwright, who missed five months with a torn Achilles last season. "My arm feels great, but I'm not getting the ball in the right position. ... Fact of the matter is, I'm struggling right now. There's no other way to put it."
Perhaps pitching at Busch Stadium will help Wainwright resolve his issues.
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In his most recent outing there April 19 of last year, Wainwright allowed one run in eight innings of a 2-1 victory over Cincinnati. That's the only run over 23 innings he has yielded while winning three straight against the Reds (5-5).
Wainwright was bailed out by plenty of offensive support last weekend and could be again if his teammates stay hot from Friday's 14-3 rout of Cincinnati. Matt Holliday had four RBIs off two of the six home runs for the Cardinals, who have gone deep 15 times, averaged 9.4 runs and batted .328 in the last seven games.
They might continue to be a problem for Reds pitchers, who have 9.28 ERA during a four-game losing streak that's all come on the road.
Brandon Finnegan (0-0, 2.84) has been solid while allowing two runs each and four hits total over 12 2-3 innings of his two starts. However, he's been backed with only four runs of support.
The left-hander walked five but didn't give up a hit until he completed 6 2-3 innings Monday when the Chicago Cubs scored twice in the seventh of the Red's 5-3 defeat.
"I hope to experience it again and actually get a chance to go through with it," Finnegan said of attaining a no-hitter.
He had far from no-hit stuff in his only previous start against the Cardinals on Sept. 23, when he allowed six runs and two homers to Matt Carpenter and one to Randal Grichuk over five innings of a 10-2 loss at Busch Stadium.
Holliday, who went 1 for 3 off Finnegan in that contest, was 6 for 32 with three RBIs prior to Friday.
Cincinnati's Joey Votto went deep for the first time in 2016 with a three-run shot Friday. He's batting .176 with a homer and eight strikeouts in 34 at-bats against Wainwright.
