Nearly three months later, Wainwright secures career-win No. 199 for Cardinals

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - It had been nearly three months since Adam Wainwright posted the 198th win of his MLB career in a June 17 start at Citi Field. Between that road victory over the Mets and Tuesday night’s outing in Baltimore, Wainwright had taken the ball 11 times⁠—and 11 times, he fell short of earning a W.

But after five innings of two-run baseball against the AL East-leading Orioles on Tuesday, Wainwright is finally back in the winner’s circle. The Cardinals led wire-to-wire, taking a 3-2 lead upon Wainwright’s exit and expanding upon it with late insurance tallies to defeat the Orioles 5-2, securing win No. 199 for their veteran starter.

Wainwright threw four straight zeroes up on the board before getting into some danger in his fifth and final inning. After allowing the potential tying run to reach third base with two outs in the frame, it was fitting that Wainwright dug into his back pocket for a nasty curveball to send Adam Frazier down swinging. Wainwright used his Uncle Charlie to get out of the jam, trusting the bullpen to hold it from there.

On the night, Wainwright allowed two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three batters. Of course, after the long layover between victories, the most important stat from Tuesday’s outing: One big W.

“It was a good one. It’s been a long time coming,” Wainwright told reporters after Tuesday’s game.

Finally on the doorstep of the milestone 200 wins, the math is pretty simple now for Wainwright. Based on the remaining schedule, he likely has three more starts remaining⁠—with one win to go.

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” Wainwright responded coyly when asked what getting one more win to reach 200 for his career would mean to him. “It would be pretty cool. It’s a nice round number, you know? I’d like to have it. Today was a big step, getting there. Three starts left. Not much time. I knew today would be a really important win for me if I could get it. Luckily we did.”

Though he didn’t start the game in the lineup, reserve outfielder Richie Palacios played a key role off the bench in helping to deliver Wainwright’s hard-fought win Tuesday. When Nolan Gorman exited prematurely with a hamstring injury, Palacios stepped into his spot in the batting order and delivered a pair of solo home runs to help pace the St. Louis offense.

Paul Goldschmidt blasted his 24th home run of the season in the Cardinals’ win. In addition to Gorman’s early exit, catcher Willson Contreras left the game with a right hand contusion.

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