Cubs shutout by Cards at Wrigley
Adam Wainwright pitched seven scoreless innings and Matt Holliday hit a solo homer to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 1-0 victory and a series win over the Cubs on Sunday.
The Cardinals won two of the three games at Wrigley Field in the weekend set. The Cubs have not won a home series since taking two of three from the Miami Marlins June 6-8.
Wainwright allowed five hits and walked three during his seven innings. It was a far cry from his previous outing when he allowed six runs (four earned) in 4? innings against the Tampa Bay Rays last Tuesday.
Kevin Siegrist worked the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 36 chances.
Cubs rookie Kyle Hendricks (1-1) allowed just one run on seven hits in 6? innings.
With the wind blowing out to right field, the conditions seemed ideal for a classic Wrigley slugfest -- a feeling seemingly confirmed when Holliday, the third batter of the game, lifted a drive to center field that landed in the batter's eye for a solo homer and a 1-0 Cardinals lead.
But that's where the score stayed as the starters took control.
On paper, the matchup seemed a huge mismatch, but Hendricks was able to stay competitive with the perennial All-Star, with the only essential difference being Holliday's blast. Hendricks benefited from two double plays and Matt Carpenter was thrown out at second attempting to stretch a single, but the rookie never faced a true jam.
The only time he was close to giving up a run after the first inning came after he was lifted in the seventh inning with a runner on first base and one out. Left-hander Wesley Wright loaded the bases with two out, but got Wainwright to line out softly to first base.
NOTES: Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, a former catcher, on former Cubs great Greg Maddux, who was inducted into the hall of fame on Sunday: "I would have enjoyed catching him, for sure. I would have enjoyed trying to understand how he thought about the game. The things I saw him do. I remember one time here, he put one right down the middle. 'Hit it as hard as you want because the wind was screaming in.' I smashed it as hard as I could smash it, and it went nowhere. He just gave a grin."... As part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Wrigley Field, both teams wore replica uniforms from 1978. The Cardinals uniforms were only slightly different than ones from today (no belts and pullover jerseys being the main change), but the Cubs wore powder blue pinstripes, which were the road uniforms then. ... The Cardinals are off on Monday, while the Cubs begin a four-game home series with the Colorado Rockies, with LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (0-1, 5.00) facing LHP Yohan Flande (0-2, 7.20).