ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t start the toast without the guy who finished the game.
Their champagne bottles shaken and only their thumbs holding back the bubbly, a roster full of players and coaches stood in a circle in the Cardinals’ clubhouse and waited for Adam Wainwright to finally arrive.
The starter who a day earlier had said he intended to also be the closer in Game 5 of the National League division series had just pitched the Cardinals to their third consecutive National League Championship Series with a 6-1, complete-game victory Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
There would be no celebratory spray until Wainwright had his say, and he was the last player to arrive.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Wainwright said, his voice almost gone. “I love you guys. I trust you. I believe in you. Let’s bring this thing home.”
Wainwright struck out Pittsburgh slugger Pedro Alvarez to finish his first postseason complete game and eliminate the Pirates in a winner-take-all Game 5 division series, the first divisional series Game 5 ever decided in St. Louis.
For the third consecutive postseason, the Cardinals won a decisive Game 5 in the division series and will advance for a chance to win the league pennant. The Los Angeles Dodgers will arrive in St. Louis today, and the best-of-7 NLCS begins Friday at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals will play for the pennant for the sixth time in the past 10 seasons.
David Freese, no stranger to October theatrics, put the Cardinals ahead with a two run home run in the second inning and rookie Matt Adams clinched the victory with a two-run home run in the eighth.
The constant through the game was Wainwright, who was bruised and ousted in the third inning of his Game 5 start last season. When he struck out Alvarez to end the game on his 107th pitch Wednesday night, Wainwright took a step and let out a scream.
He had his clincher, the first of his career as a starter.
“I was just being myself,” said Wainwright, who struck out six and allowed only eight hits. “I wasn’t out there chasing any other moments in Cardinals history that are so hard to chase. I knew this time it was all about being me and making pitches and being focused. That’s what my strength is. That’s what I did.”
The Cardinals are the first team to reach the NLCS in three consecutive seasons since the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The Cardinals will face the Dodgers for the first time in the postseason since 2009, although this year’s NLCS is a rematch of the 1985 NLCS.
Freese has 28 RBI in 36 career postseason games, and he has done most of his damage when the Cardinals’ season hinges on the game. Wednesday was the ninth time Freese has started an elimination game, and 3 of his 7 postseason home runs and 12 of his postseason RBI have come in those games.
His home run Wednesday night was the Cardinals’ only hit off Pirates starter Gerrit Cole in the first three innings.
“David is a big-game player,” Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s not a fluke.”
Jon Jay was in the middle of both early rallies by the Cardinals. His eight-pitch walk against Cole softened the rookie right-hander and immediately preceded Freese’s home run. In the sixth inning, Jay faced left-hander Justin Wilson with Matt Holliday in scoring position and two outs and the center fielder poked Wilson’s 97-mph fastball up the middle for a single to score Holliday and push the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0.
Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma changed the complexion of the fourth inning for Wainwright with two plays in the field.
Pirates infielder Neil Walker floated a line drive up the middle that seemed certain to land out of the reach of Matt Carpenter for a base hit, but Kozma dove from the shortstop side of second base to Carpenter’s side of the bag to make the catch. Two batters later, Justin Morneau skipped a grounder between third and shortstop, but Kozma ranged to his right and threw strong to first for the third out of the inning.
Kozma’s choice not to go to second for an out in the seventh put Wainwright in his first jeopardy of the game, all because of three infield singles. Kozma could have ended the inning with a simple flip to second on Marlon Byrd’s grounder, but instead he took a step and threw to first. Byrd beat the throw, and instead of ending the inning the Pirates had two runners on base and Pedro Alvarez at the plate as the tying run.
Alvarez skipped Wainwright’s full-count pitch down the first-base line. Matt Adams moved to make a play on the ball, but it hit off first base and bounded over Adams’ reach. Morneau came around to score to break up Wainwright’s shutout, and the run gave Alvarez at least one RBI his first six consecutive playoff games.
It also put runners at the corners and gave Russell Martin a chance to chip away at the lead, but he skipped a grounder to Kozma and he took the out at second base.
“Every time we turned around, Wainwright got in the way,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “The at bats were better, the approach got better, but he kept making pitches.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 10/10/2013