ST. LOUIS — For several weeks, Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright has been saying that the team win total for the games in which he pitches to catcher Yadier Molina meant more to him than the total starts record the two probably will set later this season.
On Sunday night, before a national television audience observing, the Cardinals won for a record 203rd time with Wainwright and Molina as the starting battery. That eclipsed the 202 number established by Boston/Milwaukee lefthander Warren Spahn and catcher Del Crandall from 1949-63.
Not only did the Cardinals win, but the 40-year-old Wainwright and 39-year-old Molina combined on a two-way gem in a 15-6 Cardinals rout of the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. And, in an homage to the old-timers, 42-year-old Albert Pujols made his big-league pitching debut in the ninth.
