The Chicago Cubs proved on Tuesday night that Cy Young candidate Adam Wainwright is beatable.
They managed to get five runs off him to set up their second victory in as many nights in Busch Stadium. They beat the St. Louis Cardinals by a final score of 7-2.
At the same time, they prevented Wainwright from becoming the National League pitcher with the most wins this season.
Randy Wells pitched a gem to snap his personal two-game winless streak. He gave up only one run and five hits in eight innings, fanning five Cardinals without issuing a walk. The right-hander (7-13) also contributed offensively with two singles and two RBI in four at-bats.
The Cubs scored their first two runs in the second inning.
With one out, Xavier Nady singled off Wainwright. After Geovany Soto’s strikeout, Tyler Colvin walked on four pitches. The Cardinals starter then gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Darwin Barney and Wells that sent Nady and Colvin home.
In the third, Marlon Byrd hit a deep one-out double to right field. Another out later, Nady’s second single of the night tallied Byrd from second.
The Cubs added a couple more runs in the fourth.
Colvin led off with a single, and Barney followed with a double to left field. With runners in scoring position, Wells helped himself to the win again with his second RBI of the night, a single that drove in Colvin from third. After Kosuke Fukudome’s strikeout, Blake DeWitt scored Barney from third with an RBI single.
The Cardinals replied in the bottom of the fourth with their first run of the night. Wells handed a single to leadoff hitter Colby Rasmus, who scored on Matt Holliday’s double to left field. But there was no further damage, as Wells retired the next three batters in a row.
The score remained intact until both teams added runs in the ninth inning. Facing reliever Fernando Salas, Nady singled for the third time to add two more runs for the Cubs.
Rasmus hit his 22nd home run of the season off Cubs reliever James Russell for the Cardinals’ final run. Rasmus, filling in at the No. 3 spot for the injured Albert Pujols, responded well by scoring two runs with two hits tonight.
The Cubs totaled 15 hits tonight, and five different players had multi-hit game. Barney’s three-hit game was the first in his major league career. Nady also had three singles and produced three runs. Besides Wells, Colvin and Byrd also had two-hit nights.
Wainwright (18-11) had faced the Cubs for the first time this season on May 30 in Wrigley Field to help his team win 9-1. But his line tonight was very different; he completed eight innings, giving up five runs on 12 hits, the most he has given up all season long. He also struck out seven, walking only one Cub.
The Cubs will attempt to sweep the Cardinals tomorrow to wrap up their last visit to Busch Stadium in 2010. Manager Mike Quade will send their ace Carlos Zambrano (8-6, 3.88) to the mound to face Chris Carpenter (15-6, 3.09).
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