Wainwright, Cardinals too much for Pirates
ST. LOUIS -- Needing a win desperately, the St. Louis Cardinals turned to the pitcher they've been able to count on for a decade - and Adam Wainwright delivered.
Tying a season high with nine strikeouts over seven innings, Wainwright spoiled the major-league debut of highly touted pitcher Tyler Glasnow in a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright (8-5) allowed five hits and Pittsburgh's only run, walking one. He retired 10 batters in a row after Matt Joyce's lead-off double in the second inning.
Glasnow, who was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis after posting a 1.78 earned run average and a 7-2 record in 17 starts, matched Wainwright pitch-for-pitch before St. Louis managed to gain some traction in its second and third passes through the order.
The Pirates (44-42), whose season-high seven-game winning streak came to an end, scored first in the second on an infield out by Jordy Mercer that plated Joyce.
The Cardinals (44-41) tied it up in the fourth when Aledmys Diaz belted a triple off the top of the left-center field wall and scored with two outs when Glasnow tossed a wild pitch.
Randal Grichuk snapped the tie in the fifth with his ninth homer, a 441-foot blast on a hanging curve that reached the seats in left-center.
St. Louis busted it open in the sixth. Greg Garcia led off with a double and Matt Holliday drew a one-out walk, ending Glasnow's day.
Reliever Arquimedes Caminero was greeted by Stephen Piscotty's 11th homer, a three-run blast that barely cleared the wall in right-center. The play was originally ruled a double, but a crew chief review led to a reversal.
Glasnow worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on three with two walks and five strikeouts.
The Cardinals passed Pittsburgh for second place in the NL Central, snapping their 10-game home losing streak against teams with winning records.
NOTES: To replace disabled All-Star 2B Matt Carpenter, St. Louis purchased the contract of C Michael McKenry from Triple-A Memphis. McKenry batted .341 in 82 at-bats with Memphis after signing with the Cardinals' organization on May 27. ... Pittsburgh has come from behind to win its last six games prior to Thursday, the first time it's done that since July 11-16, 1983. ... Diaz was named to replace Carpenter on the NL All-Star team. Diaz entered Thursday batting .319 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs.