Vintage Uncle Charlie makes a return, striking out 9, blanking Dodgers 5-0
I think I speak for all Cardinals fans when I say this, but tonight was something none of us saw coming, but something we all needed deep down. Adam Wainwright returned to his “2011” form as Matty V pointed out early in tonight’s national broadcast on ESPN. Which is a hysterical joke.
Waino worked his first 2 innings tonight throwing 34 pitches, stranding two runners on base, striking out 2. The scarecrow, Justin Turner would line a one-out double to RF in the 1st inning. But Machado and Muncy couldn’t drive him in, Muncy going down looking at the good ole Uncle Charlie. Waino would deliver his first of three walks with two away in the 2nd, facing Puig (probably a smart decision), stranding him at first after striking out grandpa Utley on another epic bender.
Swags started the scoring for the Cards in the bottom of the 2nd after Stripling set them down in order on 11 pitches to start the 1st, striking out two. Swags opened the inning lining a solo HR to RCF, his 22nd HR of the season, and team leading 83rd RBI.
The epic battery of Yadi and Waino ended the 3rd inning with a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double-play. Pederson lined a one out single after Stripling struck out looking. With Turner at bat, Pederson would attempt to snag 2nd base on a two strike count, getting gunned down after Turner swung and missed at another classic Waino curve.
The Cards added two more runs to the board in the 4th, after getting retired 1-2-3 in the 3rd. Muñoz reached base to begin the inning on a wild pitch strikeout, moving to 2B on a Pauly Deez single into LF. After Swags flew out to Pederson, Trap House got his Sunday trappin’ done rather early, lining an RBI single into RF to make it 2-0. Yadi and the clutch goat gene came into play next, as he lined an RBI single into LF as well, running Stripling from the game after 3.1IP. Switch-pitcher, Pat Venditte then recorded the final 2 outs of the inning, throwing LH to get KoWo to pop out to turner, and throwing RH to get Bader to ground out 5U on the play.
Waino retired 7 of the final 8 batters he faced this evening, adding 4 more strikeouts to bring his total to 9. Waino walked Toles (pinch-hitting) with two outs to bring in the top of the order in Pederson. Waino came back with the sauce, throwing a perfect cutter in on his hands to end the 5th. Waino’s final k would come on Machado, and boy, was it epic because it came on Machado and that god awful haircut.
Waino’s final line: (6IP, 2 hits, 0r, 3 bb, 9 k’s, 101 pitches)
Swags and Trap House worked back-to-back one out singles on Maeda to bring in Yadi. Shildt would start the runners and Yadi would line it down the 3B line, getting over Turner’s glove for an error, plating Swags to make it 4-0.
Bud Norris would come in to start the 7th, but he wouldn’t last very long as he would be removed after 7 pitches with a blister on one of his throwing fingers. Norris would walk Grandal the throw a ball to Bellinger, alerting Shildt and the medical staff. Hicks would come in via a double switch, moving to the 5-hole, Muñoz moving to 3B and O’Neill to RF.
Hicks came in throwing darts, touching 104 mph a few times. The first of his three strikeouts was epic, but it wasn’t his best believe it or not. After coming in on the hands with the hard stuff to Puig, Hicks busted him on the outer half with a 93 mph slider, yes, you read that correctly. In the 8th inning, he would give up a one out single to Turner after striking out Pederson on a slider. The best strikeout came next, as Machado wasn’t a fan of any of the three strike calls Eric Cooper made on him. Machado would get rung up looking at a slider down the middle in the lower half of the zone, voicing his disagreement multiple times until the game came to an end.
Yadi plated his 2nd RBI of the night in the 8th, extending the lead to 5-0, driving in Deez, who reached via a walk.
The closer, Carlos Martínez, made quick work in the 9th to end this one with a Cardinals shutout, tossing 8 pitches. Tsunami ended the night with a 5-4-3 double-play on Puig after Bellinger singled.
The Cardinals (82-68) will head to Atlanta to take on the Braves (83-66) for a short 3-game road trip. With tonight’s win, they move back into a tie with LAD for the 2nd WC spot.
The Lizard King (15-4, 2.99) will get the ball in game-one taking on another dominant righty, Mike Foltynewicz (11-9, 2.66). First pitch from SunTrust Park is at 6:35 c/t.
Thanks for reading, cheers!
Game 150 is in the books
by Stew/@StewStilez
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