Too Much Wainwright, Peralta; Pirates Dropped 7-0

Ah, that first inning. Adam Wainwright put the Bucs away with a walk, but Edinson Volquez didn't get away that cheaply. The Cards manufactured a run with a leadoff double, bunt and sac fly. Hurdle protested that the tag up was too soon, but that plea from the bench failed to move the umps. The Bucs went quietly in the second, and took advantage of some happy feet to keep the Redbirds off the board in their half, catching Yadier Molina in a rundown between third and home.

In the third, Tony Sanchez and Volquez, after a failed bunt, both singled to open the frame. Another bunt by Starling Marte ended up a force at third, and the Bucs went quietly after that. The pitching was clean from that point until the bottom of the fifth, when a Jhonny Peralta solo shot off a hanging curve made it 2-0.

The Bucs had two-out gold on the corners after JT took one for the team and Pedro dropped a flare into right in the sixth, but Wainwright caught the corner on Neil Walker for a strikeout looking; he now has a 23-inning scoreless streak going.

The Matts, Adams and Holliday, singled back-to-back in the St. Louis half. A fielder's choice left Cards on the corners; Ike Davis' foot was ruled off the bag when he stretched for a wide toss by Walker. A protest ensued, but the replay guys said the call stood, meaning that it was too close to overturn. It hurt when Allen Craig turned the botched DP into a run with a bloop single. It hurt even more when Peralta ran into a 3-2 changeup and knocked it into the bullpen. The pitch before looked like strike three (it was in the same spot that The Kid was rung up), but Volquez didn't get the call. Perhaps Sanchez may have been a little too active in framing it. Jeanmar Gomez finished the inning.

Wainwright put the Bucs away in order in the seventh, so he's worked seven innings or more in all six starts this year. Gomez had a 1-2-3 inning thanks to a DP; Wainwright had an eighth inning walk erased on a DP in the eighth. In the Card half, Adams tripled when a diving Tabata couldn't corral the ball, and a sac fly brought him home.

Carlos Martinez gave Wainwright a blow in the ninth, and struck out the side as the Bucs were dropped 7-0.

A manufactured run or two, a hung curve and an unturned DP gave Adam Wainwright lots to work with, and he doesn't need much. The Bucs are off tomorrow and then visit the Orioles for a quick two game set with Charlie Morton and Brandon Cumpton to do the hurling.

• Tony Sanchez now has an eight game hitting streak.
• Adam Wainwright now has a 25 inning scoreless streak.
• After a stretch of 20 straight games without a scheduled off day, the Pirates are off tomorrow and Thursday.
• The Pirates are in a 4-13 tailspin. April hasn't been very kind to them; they've dropped the last five series.
• Vin Mazzaro picked up the save for Indy today and has a streak of 10-1/3 scoreless innings to his credit.