Adam Wainwright shuts down the Reds over eight strong innings Sunday
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
For the first time in a long time, St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright came into the season with some legitimate question marks. After an iffy second half in 2014, which led to offseason elbow surgery, there was plenty of speculation about whether Wainwright would still be an elite option.
If the start of his season is any indication, that’s not going to be an issue. Wainwright continued to dominate Sunday, tossing eight strong innings against the Cincinnati Reds. Wainwright allowed one run on seven hits during the outing. He walked two and notched four strikeouts. On the season, the 33-year-old has a 1.71 ERA over 21 innings.
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Wainwright gave up his only run in the third inning. After getting two quick outs, Wainwright was tagged by the middle of the Reds’ order. Joey Votto singled, and Todd Frazier walked, putting Votto in scoring position. He was brought home by a Brandon Phillips single.
Other than that, Wainwright turned in an excellent outing. Following his rough third inning, Wainwright retired 12 straight Reds before Tucker Barnhart picked up a single in the seventh inning. Wainwright loaded the bases in the eighth, but was able to get out of it without giving up any runs.
Jordan Walden was called upon in the ninth, and was able to preserve the 2-1 lead. Wainwright threw 102 pitches en route to his second win of the year.
METS WIN EIGHTH STRAIGHT, BUT IT COMES WITH A COST
For the second time this season, the New York Mets won a game at a significant cost. The first came Wednesday, when the team lost David Wright to a hamstring injury. Just a few days later, disaster struck again.
The Mets pulled out a tight 7-6 win over the Miami Marlins, but lost two players this time. Reliever Jerry Blevins suffered a fractured forearm after being hit with a comebacker.
In the bottom half of the inning, catcher Travis d’Arnaud was hit on the hand with a pitch, and had to leave the contest.
The news was not positive after the game.
Both players will be examined by specialists Monday. At that point, the team will have a better idea of when both players will be able to return to action. They are expected to miss significant time.
Lost in all the injury news is the fact that the Mets won their eighth straight game. They currently sit on top of the National League East with a 10-3 record.
NELSON CRUZ STAYS HOT, WALKS IT OFF FOR THE MARINERS
It’s early, but Seattle Mariners outfielder Nelson Cruz is starting to look like one of the better offseason signings. Cruz continued his torrid start Sunday, picking up three hits, including two more home runs.
Through 12 games, Cruz has already belted eight homers this year. While a two-homer game would usually be the top story, it was Cruz’s third hit of the day that was the most impressive.
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After giving up the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Texas Rangers opted to walk Robinson Cano to load the bases for Cruz. With two outs, Cruz singled to left for the walk-off hit.
Cruz is now hitting .357 on the season. With the win, the Mariners improved to 5-7.
BREWERS DROP FIFTH-STRAIGHT, FALL TO 2-10
The Milwaukee Brewers may not have received the memo, but the regular season started two weeks ago. Milwaukee dropped their fifth straight contest Sunday, losing 5-2 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. With the loss, Milwaukee fell to a major-league worst 2-10.
Through 12 games, the Brewers own the worst run-differential in the majors, coming in at -35. It’s tough to put the blame on one particular area. Milwaukee has scored a league-low 30 runs this year, but has allowed a league-high 65 runs. The whole team has been bad thus far.
Both issues were on display Sunday. Starter Matt Garza gave up five runs over six innings against Pittsburgh, while the Brewers offense could only muster two runs against Pirates’ ace Gerrit Cole.
Milwaukee will begin a series with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Both teams have struggled to begin the season, but could start to turn things around with this series.
Want to see the rest of Sunday’s MLB action? Check out our scoreboard.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
