Cardinals 7, Athletics 1
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The way St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright pitched Saturday against the Oakland Athletics, two runs would have been enough to give him his 11th victory of the season.
Matt Adams drove in four runs with two swings of the bat, slugging a three-run homer in the fourth inning and a solo shot in the eighth in the Cardinals' 7-1 rout of the A's.
Wainwright snapped a two-game losing streak, improved to 11-5 while pitching his fourth complete game of the season and the 15th of his career. He's tied with Washington's Jordan Zimmermann for the most wins in the National League.
Wainwright allowed one run on five hits while striking out eight and walking two, and has walked only 12 all season.
Adams had the first multi-home run game of his career and has hit six home runs this season. He helped the Cardinals snap a two-game losing streak, win for only the second time in their last seven games and even their three-game series with the A's at 1-1.
A's right-hander Jarrod Parker was working on a shutout through 3 2/3 innings when he injured his right hamstring, ending his day. After delivering a pitch that Allen Craig launched for a double, Parker grabbed his hamstring and fell to the ground in pain.
Parker threw a few warm-up pitches, but then limped off the field and headed to the clubhouse with what the A's called right hamstring tightness.
Right-hander Jesse Chavez took over and retired Matt Holliday on a ground ball to third base, ending the inning.
Parker had gone 4-0 with a 2.34 ERA over his previous six starts.
Chavez came into the game on a hot streak, too. In 10 appearances since being called up May 10 from Triple-A Sacramento for his second stint with the A's, Chavez had a 1.74 ERA over 20 2/3 innings.
However, the Cardinals scored twice off Chavez in the top of the fifth, taking a 2-0 lead. Adams worked a lead-off walk and moved to second when Chavez hit David Freese with his next pitch.
Jon Jay advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, and Daniel Descalsco hit a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Adams to break the scoreless tie.
Matt Carpenter lined an opposite-field, RBI single to left, and Freese raced home, barely beating Yoenis Cespedes' throw.
In the sixth, St. Louis struck for four more runs.
Leading off, Carlos Beltran doubled off Chavez and moved to third on Craig's single. Left-hander Jerry Blevins came on to face the right-handed hitting Holliday, who singled sharply to center, bringing Beltran home.
Adams drove Blevins' next pitch into the right field seats for a three-run home run, increasing the Cardinals' lead to 6-0. It was Adams' first home off a left-hander in the major leagues.
The A's scored a run off Wainwright in the eighth when Josh Donaldson hit a leadoff double and came home on Josh Reddick's single.
NOTES: A's catcher John Jaso (left palm abrasion) was out of the starting lineup Saturday against the Cardinals for the seventh straight game. "It is getting better," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "(Friday) was a big improvement day for him. He's available off the bench, just not to start yet." Catcher Derek Norris made his first start and first appearance since June 23 at Seattle. ... Cardinals rookie right-hander Shelby Miller had his roughest outing of the season Friday, but manager Mike Matheny said he won't even consider pushing his next start back a few days. "We all knew that all of our young guys would end up going through some bumps," Matheny said. "It's just a matter of whether they can fix them quickly or else it takes a little longer to learn whatever lesson they need to learn. It's a great learning opportunity for Shelby."
