ST. LOUIS — Cardinals veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright made the 400th start of his career, but the Houston Astros forced him into an early exit as Wainwright has turned in back-to-back short outings with high run totals.
The Cardinals were down by six when Wainwright left the game, and that margin only expanded as they careened towards a 14-0 loss in front of an announced crowd of 42,504 in the finale of a three-game series at Busch Stadium on Thursday night.
Wainwright (3-3) allowed six runs on six hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings. He’s now allowed six runs or more in an inning seven times in his 467 career regular-season appearances.
The Cardinals (33-47) lost the series and gave up at least 10 runs in each of the final two games. They’ve fallen to 8-15 in June with the New York Yankees (45-36) coming into town for a three-game weekend series.
Rookie outfielder Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a single in the fifth inning. He’s now been on base in 18 consecutive games. The hitting streak is the longest active streak in the majors and tied for the sixth-longest by a player this season. It’s the longest by a rookie in the majors this season, breaking a tie with Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida.
Walker tied Albert Pujols for the second-longest hitting streak by a Cardinals rookie in club history. Current Cardinals bench coach Joe McEwing holds the franchise’s rookie record with a 25-game hitting streak in 1999.
Brendan Donovan (1 for 4) extended his on-base streak to 17 straight games.
Willson Contreras (1 for 3), Nolan Arenado (1 for 2), Walker and Donovan accounted for all the Cardinals' hits. Arenado, who came out of Wednesday night’s game due to lower back stiffness, started at designated hitter. He was taken out in favor of pinch hitter in the seventh.
Tommy Edman made a pair of spectacular diving catches in center field before he moved to second base for the final three innings.
Trailing by 10 heading into the ninth inning, the Cardinals turned to position player Alec Burleson to pitch the final inning.
A former two-way college player/pitcher at East Carolina University, Burleson became the first Cardinals position player to pitch in a game since Corey Dickerson took the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 23, 2022.
Burleson gave up four runs, including a grand slam by Alex Bregman — his third of the season.
Altuve ignites another big inning
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve hit the go-ahead three-run home run in the game-changing five-run eighth inning on Wednesday night.
In Thursday’s series finale, Altuve drove in the game’s first run with a two-out RBI single to right field against Wainwright. Altuve started a string of five consecutive batters who reached with two outs in the inning against Wainwright.
Altuve’s single came with two men on base. Corey Julks scored, and Jeremy Pena advanced to second. After Altuve, Bregman walked to load the bases for Kyle Tucker.
Tucker swatted a two-run single, then Tucker and Bregman both scored on a Jose Abreu double into the left field corner. Those were the fourth and fifth runs of the inning against Wainwright, all with two outs.
Yanier Diaz then delivered the final blow against Wainwright when he smashed an RBI double to center field. Cardinals center fielder Tommy Edman made a leaping attempt at a catch and momentarily had the ball in his glove, but it jarred free when he slammed into the outfield wall.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol then emerged from the dugout and replaced Wainwright with left-hander Steven Matz.
The Astros ran Wainwright’s pitch count up to 58 pitches without him getting through the second inning.
Matz solid in mop-up duty
Matz, who began the season in the starting rotation, tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. That tied matched the longest relief outing of his career. He also threw 3 1/3 innings against the Cubs in London on June 24.
Thursday, Matz allowed one hit and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. He also struck out four.
Matz made 10 starts this season before got demoted to the bullpen on May 29. He’s now made seven relief appearances this season.
As a starter, Matz posted a record of 0-6 with a 5.72 ERA with an opponent’s batting average of .324 and a WHIP of 1.75 in (50 1/3 innings).
In seven relief appearances, Matz has gone 0-1 with a 1.98 ERA, a .204 opponent’s batting average and a 1.02 WHIP in 13 2/3 innings. In the small sample size as a reliever, Matz’s strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.25-to-1. As a starter this season, he sported a ratio of 2.25-to-1.
Limited offensive opportunities
The Cardinals were held to four hits in the game, and just two at-bats with runners in scoring position (0 for 2).
Astros starting pitcher J.P. France (3-3) pitched seven innings and held the Cardinals to four hits and two walks. He struck out two and matched his longest outing of the season.
The Cardinals did not have an extra-base hit in the game. They left four runners on base.
