ST. LOUIS _ In a space of five Pittsburgh Pirates hitters in the second inning Saturday, Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright allowed four of them to reach base, clipping one in the helmet and walking another with the bases loaded. But just when it appeared the train was going off the rails, he righted it.
Wainwright proceeded to set down 14 of the next 15 hitters with just three balls leaving the infield. He finished his six-inning stint allowing just three singles and that one second-inning walk and the Cardinals scored four runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to run off with a 9-1 victory at Busch Stadium.
Paul DeJong, Matt Carpenter and Tommy Edman each drove in two runs and Paul Goldschmidt hit his first homer as the Cardinals downed the Pirates for the second game in succession. And Wainwright caught Bob Forsch at 163 wins for third on the all-time Cardinals list. Hall of Famer Bob Gibson is first at 251 and Hall of Famer Jesse "Pop" Haines is second at 210.
Wainwright said he had become "overheated" in the second inning on a 90-degree day.
"In really being honest with you, which I try to be most of the time," Wainwright said, "I got overheated. I started getting overheated in the top of the first. And when I went back out for the second, I couldn't break that cycle. My temperature just kept rising and I started seeing some spots."
Besides making mechanical adjustment with his hands, Wainwright said he had to find a way cool off. "I came in here (to the clubhouse), took all my clothes off, laid down on the floor with a cold ammonia towel on me to get my temperature under control and, after the second (inning), I felt good about it," he said.
But he adjusted even further. Instead of running to the mound, as is his norm, "I did a little half jog and then walked out. I barely got my warm-up stuff to the plate because I was saving those pitches," said Wainwright.
"That's one of the hotter games I've been a part of here for a while, anyway. There was no air out there. It was really hot."
