Adam Wainwright has graduated to the point where the "three-year rule" no longer applies to him. He's gained big league tenure, allowing him to leave a Spring Training game early or avoid shagging balls in the outfield sometimes.
Wainwright retains one trait he's had since his first spring in Major League camp, though: He gets mad when he pitches poorly in the Grapefruit League.
So Wainwright made no secret of his irritation with his showing on Tuesday. The right-hander allowed four runs in two innings of the Cardinals' 7-6 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium, departing with a 4-3 deficit. He gave up two leads, which may have been most galling of all.
"I never like giving up a lead," he said. "I take pride in that when I'm pitching in the regular season, holding a lead. Even Spring Training, you don't like giving up a lead -- two especially."
Wainwright wasn't sweating it too terribly much, because he views all of his problems from Tuesday as fixable. But the performance definitely didn't sit well.
"Really, it was not a question of stuff," he said. "It's a matter of taking the right focus out on the mound, mental approach to each hitter. Today I didn't do that. Stuff-wise, I wasn't as sharp as I have been in my live [batting practice sessions]. But I had better stuff than I looked like I had. It definitely matters. It's not one of those, 'It's Spring Training.' I'll be better next time, and I'll just continue to try to get better and better each time."
Following the best season of his young big league career, Wainwright didn't take what would have been his first turn of the spring. The Cardinals felt that he'd get plenty of work without it, so Wainwright started his spring season a little later than most pitchers. He was sharp in his early throwing sessions, but it didn't translate to his first start.
"I really wanted to establish my fastball on both sides, and I wanted to work my changeup a lot today," he said. "And I actually did throw a lot of changeups. But not in the situations I wanted to, and not with the results I wanted to have from it. I don't know. It was good to face hitters again. It definitely was not what I wanted, but I can see things I need to improve on and I can improve on them."
It started innocently, as Wainwright allowed a pair of ground-ball singles -- one just out of Julio Lugo's reach and one through the right side. He got Joe Mauer to pop up after falling behind the American League MVP 3-0. Then things got ugly. Justin Morneau throttled a two-run double to deepest left-center, turning a 2-0 Cardinals lead into a tie game, and Jim Thome walked before Wainwright escaped the first.
A line-drive single, a wild pitch and a walk opened the second inning. Denard Span's sacrifice helped Wainwright get going in the right direction, but an RBI groundout and a hard ground-ball single from Mauer turned a 3-2 Cardinals lead into a 4-3 hole. Morneau ended Wainwright's day with a very loud out to center.
"I was missing by probably two inches on each side of the plate," Wainwright said. "I only missed a few times over the middle. Really, the only ball that I missed over the middle that cost me was the one to Morneau in the first inning. I wouldn't [say I was] nitpicking, but when you're just off the corners on each side, getting behind in the count, you're a lot more predictable as a pitcher. They did a good job. They were patient."
Wainwright wasn't the only one displeased with his errant focus. The suggestion that Wainwright's mind wasn't where it needed to be rankled manager Tony La Russa.
"He knows that's not acceptable," La Russa said. "It happens to everybody, but not acceptable."
So Wainwright will get to fixing it. Right away.
"I'll look at film in the morning, early, and I'll make the proper adjustments," he said.
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