Tag Archives: Game 5

Wainwright Leaves No Doubt – Cardinals Are NLCS Bound!

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Before Adam Wainwright took the mound  to try to carry the Cardinals into their third-straight NLCS, before newbie Matt Adams and Mr. October David Freese blasted their way past those pesky Pirates, before 47,000+ fans made their way through the gates at Busch III to see which team had more magic left, Adam Wainwright thought about his last NLDS Game 5 start. Waino Winner

That game didn’t quite go according to plan. Six runs in 2 1/3 innings? Not exactly vintage Waino. But, the Ace said, that may have been the problem. That night against the Nationals, Wainwright — who has always deeply admired Chris Carpenter — wanted to recreate a magical night from one year earlier: Carpenter’s shutout in Game 5 against the Phillies.

“To be honest, I wanted to replicate his game,” said Wainwright, whom the Nationals roughed up for six runs before the end of the third inning. “That was the wrong kind of thinking. I needed to be me. I needed to be focused and be prepared and be me.” Continue reading →

Whose Birthday Wish Will Come True?

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Adron Chambers of the Cardinals was born on Oct. 8, 1986. Yesterday he turned 27.

Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates was born on Oct. 10, 1986. Tomorrow he turns 27.

collage-10-9Chances are very good that both have the same birthday wish, as the Cardinals and Pirates prepare to battle in Game Five of the NLDS tonight: to be spraying champagne in the clubhouse after his team’s victory, since he and his team will be moving on to face the Dodgers in the NLCS.

Since it’s the decisive Game Five, of course, only one’s wish will come true.

Tonight’s game is the 24th time in 2013 the two teams have played each other. No surprises left at this stage, nothing new — even though last Friday, in Game Two, the Cardinals did actually have something new in facing Gerrit Cole for the first time.

But we know how that played out, with Cole allowing only two hits (including a Carlos Beltran home run) in six innings as the Pirates cruised to a 7-1 win. Chambers had his only at-bat of the series in the sixth inning as he pinch-hit for Randy Choate and launched a long fly deep to centerfield — which McCutchen caught.

Cole will start tonight, facing Adam Wainwright.

We obviously know how Wainwright did in Game One, shutting down the Pirates for seven innings and giving up only three hits (including a Pedro Alvarez home run) while the Cardinals had an easy 9-1 victory. McCutchen had one of those hits, a fourth inning single. He singled again in the ninth inning, off Trevor Rosenthal — something he couldn’t do with two out in the bottom of the ninth in Monday’s Game Four. He popped out to Matt Carpenter to end the game and send us to tonight’s Game Five.

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