Offense struggles against longtime nemesis
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PITTSBURGH -- After the Pirates were shut out over eight innings by Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright on Sunday, Derek Shelton said the team had to find a plan to scratch across a couple of runs against the veteran starter who had silenced them all season.
“I’m open to ideas if you’ve got any,” Shelton told reporters on Sunday.
The bad news? Any answers the Pirates believed they found were laid to rest as Wainwright dominated the Pirates’ lineup once more in their 13-0 loss to the Cardinals on Saturday at PNC Park.
The good news? After Saturday, the Pirates will not have to face Wainwright again this season.
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Unless Wainwright miraculously pitches in relief of Kwang Hyun Kim in the series finale on Sunday, he will have ended his season against the Pirates with 26 scoreless innings, or one out shy of three regulation games’ worth of shutouts.
Was anything too different this time out in terms of his mix on Saturday night, when he scattered three hits and a walk over seven innings?
“No. I mean, he's pitched well against us,” Shelton said. “He's had the really good curveball all four times he's pitched against us, and just really mixed it in well.”
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The Pirates’ toilsome efforts against Wainwright reached historic proportions following Saturday’s loss. The right-hander has a 0.30 ERA in four starts against Pittsburgh this season, which is the second-lowest ERA vs. the Pirates in a single season (minimum of four starts). Don Cardwell in 1961 recorded a 0.24 ERA in four starts facing the Bucs.
“I'm really trying to take it pitch to pitch and inning to inning and not think about the whole bulk of it,” Wainwright said of his success vs. the Pirates. “As soon as you start thinking you own somebody, they put a crooked number on you really quick."
But even before infielder Wilmer Difo took the mound to pitch in the ninth inning of a blowout, the loss seemed sealed with Wainwright in cruise control.
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Steven Brault, who began his injury-shortened season with a 1.93 ERA in four starts, allowed seven runs in three innings to St. Louis. The last time Brault allowed seven or more runs was Sept. 13, 2019, against the Cubs, who did all of their damage on five home runs. This time, it was on eight hits and two walks without a homer.
“[I was] getting behind hitters and throwing the ball down the middle too much,” Brault said, “and that’s pretty much the worst recipe for success you could possibly have.”
On the other side of the mound was a pitcher who turns 40 years old on Monday, yet boasts a 2.97 ERA -- his lowest since 2015 -- affording the Pirates no breathing room.
"Some of it's crazy,” Brault said of Wainwright’s incredible numbers against the Pirates in 2021. “That guy, he's just something else. Every time he's faced us, he's been locating incredibly, he's changed speeds, he's stayed out of the middle of the plate but also stayed in the zone. That's a veteran pitcher right there making really veteran moves.”
Time will tell if the Pirates have to face Wainwright next season; he said he will retire either after 2021 or ‘22, and Yadier Molina’s final season in ‘22 may entice him to return to the Cardinals.
But for now, the Pirates can take a breather against their biggest heel this season.