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Adam Wainwright Sends Drillers to Third Straight Loss

May 7, 2018

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright got the nod on the mound for the Springfield Cardinals in a rehab start on Monday afternoon, and he demonstrated to the Tulsa Drillers why he is a big-leaguer. The former All-Star allowed only two hits in his five shutout innings of work as

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright got the nod on the mound for the Springfield Cardinals in a rehab start on Monday afternoon, and he demonstrated to the Tulsa Drillers why he is a big-leaguer. The former All-Star allowed only two hits in his five shutout innings of work as he led the Cardinals to a 6-2 victory. It was Tulsa's third straight loss to Springfield with one game remaining in the four-game series.
Wainwright was given a quick cushion to work with as the Cardinals got to Drillers starter Devin Smeltzer early. In the bottom of the first a balk allowed a runner to reach second, and Ramón Urías followed with a RBI single.
The Cards doubled their lead to 2-0 in the next inning when a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly plated the run.
Smeltzer settled down for the next two innings as he retired six men in a row. However, the fifth inning featured two Cardinal doubles and a single to stretch the score to 4-0.
Wainwright set down the first ten Drillers batter in order before D.J. Peters and Connor Joe produced a couple of singles in the bottom fourth, but those were the only hits Tulsa could put together against the major leaguer.
With Wainwright out of the game, the Drillers were able to rally for a run in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Peters singled and Yusniel Díaz walked to bring up Joe. On the first pitch, the third-baseman ripped a double to right field to plate a run for Tulsa.
The Redbirds added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth before the Drillers closed out the scoring with a second run in the ninth. Down 6-1, Drew Jackson led off the inning with a double and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
WHAT YOU MISSED
The Drillers have lost a season-high three straight games, and have dropped five of their last six.
Joe has been scorching hot since coming off of the disabled list. In his four games back, the infielder is 9 for 14 with two homers and seven RBI.
Andrew Istler made his Double-A debut in a relief appearance for the Drillers after coming up from Rancho Cucamonga. The righty allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits in the bottom of the sixth.
Ariel Hernandez had two perfect innings of relief that included four strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will wrap up the series against the Cardinals on Tuesday evening as they look to avoid the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM, with the probable starters being:
TUL        Dennis Santana (0-2, 2.25 ERA)
SPR        Jake Woodford (2-3, 6.04 ERA)