Wainwright pitches two-hit shutout, Cards top Pirates 4-0

PITTSBURGH — Adam Wainwright extended his dominance of Pittsburgh with a complete game, two-hit shutout and helped himself with a pair of hits as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pirates 4-0 on Wednesday night.

The 39-year-old Wainwright allowed a pair of singles by Colin Moran in the second and fifth innings, and then retired the last 15 batters.

Wainwright (11-6) needed just 88 pitches to record the 11th shutout of his 16-year career and first since 2016. He struck out seven and did not issue a walk.

Wainwright’s gem came a night after Cardinals left-hander J.A. Happ and three relievers combined to one-hit the Pirates, who have lost seven straight games and 17 of their last 22.

Wainwright won his fourth straight start, and he has been the winning pitcher in each of his last six starts against the Pirates. He has also won eight consecutive decisions versus the Pirates since losing to Pittsburgh on opening day in 2016.

Wainwright doubled in the fifth and hit an RBI single an inning later. He came into the game hitting .028 this season, with one hit in 36 at-bats. He raised his lifetime batting average at PNC Park to .372 (16 for 43).

Wil Crowe (3-7) gave up one run and four hits in 4 2/3 innings while striking out four and walking three.

Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the fourth inning opened the scoring. Paul DeJong hit a two-run double to the right-center field gap in the sixth inning, and Wainwright added his run-scoring single to increase the Cardinals’ lead to 4-0.

Molina and DeJong had two hits each, while Paul Goldschmidt singled and drew three walks. DeJong entered the series in a 3-for-29 slump, but also hit a home run Tuesday in the series opener.

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