ST. LOUIS — Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright had had a 3.94 earned run average over his previous eight starts. Not great. Not bad. But not Molina.
The Cardinals’ soon-to-be-record-setting battery made its first appearance together on Tuesday night since June 11 when catcher Yadier Molina, just off the injured list, walked in from the bullpen with Wainwright for the 317th time, pushing them into second place on the career charts, seven behind Detroit’s tandem of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan.
Though it had been 52 days, Wainwright and Molina showed they hadn’t missed many beats. Scoring the 192nd victory of his career, Wainwright blanked the Chicago Cubs on six hits over seven innings and Paul Goldschmidt and Dylan Carlson both homered and drove in a collective five runs in a 6-0 thumping before a paid crowd of 44,344 at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals got to seven games over the break-even mark (55-48) for the first time since July 3 and the win enabled them to close the gap between themselves and the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers to two games.
Wainwright (8-8) fanned four while throwing 106 pitches, with the 106th a 72 mile per hour curveball at which Zach McKinstry could only stare as the seventh inning concluded. Wainwright didn't issue a walk for the fourth time this season.
