'Almost unhittable' Waino goes 9 innings vs. Crew

ST. LOUIS -- Whereas most pitchers need time to work up a lather and work their way into a game before realizing their stuff has the potential for greatness, Adam Wainwright’s nearly two decades of experience usually tips him off early.

“About two pitches into it,” Wainwright said with conviction when asked how deep into Saturday’s game he thought he might be able to no-hit the rival Brewers. “I was feeling it. I had command of everything, and my stuff was biting. I thought I was going to throw a no-hitter.”

Wainwright flirted with the first no-hitter of his MLB career Saturday, holding Milwaukee hitless over 6 2/3 innings. More crushing than ultimately losing the no-hitter -- on a single by longtime nemesis Andrew McCutchen -- was Wainwright losing the lead and the Cardinals losing to the Brewers, 3-2 in 10 innings at Busch Stadium.

The loss took much of the steam out of one of the 40-year-old’s best performances of his season. Despite losing the no-hitter and losing a 1-0 lead when Luis Urías reached him for a solo home run in the eighth inning, Wainwright stayed in and finished the ninth, allowing just three hits and one run total as he struck out eight. He said he took motivation from the 1982 World Series champion Cardinals team that was being honored before the game on the 40-year anniversary of that title run. As he was going out for his pregame warmup, Wainwright doffed his cap in the direction of legends Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Keith Hernandez and Jim Kaat.

“The ’82 team was here, and I thought it was disrespectful to them to not go nine innings,” Wainwright said. “I like pitching on special occasions, and it was good to celebrate a bunch of champions.”

Like Wainwright, many of the Brewers felt like the Cardinals veteran pitcher had no-hit stuff. McCutchen, whose 25 hits are the most ever off Wainwright, lined a single to left with two outs in the seventh inning. Urías, who came into the night with two home runs off Wainwright in 14 career at-bats, felt helpless much of the night against the veteran pitcher before homering to the opposite field in the eighth.

“His curve was pretty good, but also the way he throws every pitch is just, I wouldn't say unhittable, but every time that he hit the spot, it was almost unhittable,” said Urías, who homered for the 13th time this season. “Even if he throws 88 or 90 [mph], it’s really hard to put into play.”

As he has most of his career, Wainwright cooked up motivation in his head prior to taking the mound before the 15th sellout crowd of the season -- and the sixth in as many games -- at Busch Stadium. Wainwright knew he would have to be good while going against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, who allowed just one run on four hits over seven innings. Burnes extended his scoreless streak against the Cardinals to 22 innings -- one that dated to Sept. 5, 2021 -- before rookie Nolan Gorman doubled in Paul Goldschmidt for a 1-0 St. Louis lead in the seventh.

“We were better [against Burnes], but one run in seven innings isn't going to win many games,” Goldschmidt said. “If we face him again, we'll have to do better if we expect to win. It was a little better, but definitely not good enough."

Saturday’s performance was nearly good enough for Wainwright’s first no-hitter. It was as deep as he’s gone into a game without allowing a hit since May 11, 2013, when then-Rockies star and current Cardinal Nolan Arenado broke up a no-no 7 1/3 innings in. On this night, Wainwright wanted to prove himself every bit the equal of Milwaukee’s Burnes.

“The mentality was one that I probably should take into every game -- we were playing against a great team and a great pitcher,” Wainwright said. “[Burnes] is the reigning Cy Young Award winner and everybody thinks I’m too old -- that’s what I’m thinking in my mind -- and I love that kind of opportunity [to prove people wrong].”

Through 14 games, the Cardinals and Brewers are 7-7 against one another and separated by a half-game in the standings. More than losing the no-hitter, Wainwright’s biggest regret from Saturday was being unable to pitch St. Louis to a series win over Milwaukee.

“We had an opportunity to win the series against them every time, but we lost the last one every time, so tomorrow we can flip that script,” he said. “These are just two very evenly matched teams.”