Injury to Wainwright puts damper on Cards' series-clinching win in Milwaukee

By foxsports
Published

A scary injury to one of the Cardinals' most important players made Saturday's game at last-place Milwaukee much tougher than expected.

But despite losing Adam Wainwright in the fifth inning, St. Louis still did enough to hold off a late Brewers comeback for a 5-3 series-clinching win. Matt Holliday's first home run of the season scored three runs in the seventh and proved to be the difference on a night that ended with an unusual mood in the winning clubhouse.

"It's pretty somber in there right now just because I don't know of a more respected guy on the team," manager Mike Matheny told reporters during the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest. "We won't know for sure anything until we get a picture on Monday, but it's in the back of his ankle and that's a bad spot."

The Cardinals looked to be cruising toward their fourth straight win with a 2-0 lead after four innings, and Wainwright later told reporters he felt better than he had in any of his first three starts this season.

3 UP

• Doubling them up. Wainwright got some help from his defense and Brewers baserunners to face the minimum through four innings. Three double plays erased leadoff hits and St. Louis just missed a fourth in the sixth inning when Jean Segura barely got to first base before the throw from shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

• Harris debut. Former Navy Lieutenant Mitch Harris finally made his MLB debut and proved he wasn't just called up for a feel-good story.

The Cardinals didn't have a chance to use him during a three-game series in Washington, but Matheny showed plenty of faith in the right-hander by turning to him with a two-run lead in the fifth inning. Harris responded by striking out his first batter and threw 1 1/3 shutout innings.

• Carpenter doubles again. Doubles and multi-hit games are becoming an almost nightly occurrence for third baseman Matt Carpenter. He leads the majors in both categories after going 2 for 5 with his 10th double, making him just the fourth player in MLB history to record two hits in 12 of his team's first 16 games.

3 DOWN

• Bullpen trouble. Wainwright's injury led to a challenging night for the St. Louis bullpen, which was without its top two relievers, Trevor Rosenthal and Jordan Walden.

After Kevin Siegrist gave up a double to Segura and walked Ryan Braun, Milwaukee finally scored its first runs of the series with two outs in the eighth. Randy Choate, who has pitched only one full inning in seven appearances, gave up an RBI single to Adam Lind before Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run double off Seth Maness, who also hit Khris Davis with a pitch.

But Maness bounced back to end the inning and retired Milwaukee in order in the ninth for his first save of the season.

• Reynolds slumping. Mark Reynolds made his second start of the week at first base but couldn't break out of his recent skid at the plate. The power-hitting infielder, still seeking his first home run as a Cardinal, has just one hit in his last 11 at-bats, although he did walk and score Saturday night.

• Molina out. Although its seriousness appears to pale in comparison to the Wainwright injury, Yadier Molina's knee issues will be worth watching over the next few days. The Cardinals' catcher has been listed as day-to-day and didn't play Saturday after getting hit on the knee with a foul ball in Friday's 3-0 win.

You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.