Adam Wainwright pitched a great game for the St. Louis Cardinals against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, but great wasn’t great enough.
It was a most disappointing outing for St. Louis Cardinals right-handed starting pitcher Adam Wainwright in San Diego on Tuesday night. The 28-year-old allowed just four base hits in seven innings, yet took the 1-0 loss.
Wainwright looked almost unhittable, fanning a career-high-tying 12 Padres, including their best hitter, Adrian Gonzalez, three times. Yet a solo home run to journeyman Jerry Hairston in the second inning was the difference-maker as the Cardinals quiet offense allowed no wiggle room whatsoever.
It was the 64th 12-or-more strikeout performance by a Cardinal since 1952. (See complete list below.) Hall of Famer Bob Gibson has almost half of them with 30. Wainwright became the eighth St. Louis pitcher to have multiple 12 K games during that time.
| Since 1952 | 12 K games |
| Bob Gibson | 30 |
| Steve Carlton | 7 |
| Sam Jones | 5 |
| Adam Wainwright | 2 |
| Andy Benes | 2 |
| Chris Carpenter | 2 |
| Ernie Broglio | 2 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 2 |
Oddly, Wainwright didn’t get the win in his other 12-strikeout game, either. He received a no-decision after yielding just one run in nine innings against the San Francisco Giants last July 1. The Cardinals went on to win that game in ten innings.
The last time a Cardinal pitcher had 13 strikeouts was almost four years ago when Chris Carpenter did it on June 13, 2006. Others prior to that were Matt Morris on 9/19/2001, Todd Stottlemyre twice, on 5/11/1998 and 5/15/1996 and Gibson who had 14 on 8/30/1972.
Other than Wainwright, Gibson is the only Cardinal pitcher to strike out 12 Padres. He did it three times: 8/12/1970 (13 K-14 IP), 6/17/1970 (13 K), 7/30/1969 (13 K). Gibby won all three games, a much better outcome than the Cardinals suffered on Tuesday.
Wainwright’s outing was the 31st time in MLB history that a pitcher has allowed one run with 12 or more strikeouts and lost the game. Two of those were by Arizona’s Randy Johnson within a ten-day span against the Cardinals in 1999. Both times, The Big Unit came up short compared to St. Louis’ Jose Jimenez, who tossed a no-hitter and two-hitter those days.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, 12 or more strikeouts, game, 1952-current
| Pitcher | Date | DH | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
| Adam Wainwright | 5/25/2010 | SDP | L 0-1 | GS-7 ,L | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | |
| Adam Wainwright | 7/1/2009 | SFG | W 2-1 | GS-9 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/13/2006 | PIT | W 2-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | |
| Mark Mulder | 5/9/2005 | LAD | W 4-2 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| Chris Carpenter | 4/27/2005 | MIL | W 6-3 | GS-8 ,W | 7.2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Chuck Finley | 9/1/2002 | CHC | L 4-5 | GS-8 ,L | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 1 | |
| Matt Morris | 9/19/2001 | MIL | W 8-2 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 | |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 5/11/1998 | MIL | W 7-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Andy Benes | 7/12/1997 | CHC | W 2-1 | GS-9 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 1 | |
| Andy Benes | 5/24/1997 | SFG | W 9-3 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 5/15/1996 | FLA | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | |
| Jose DeLeon | 9/6/1988 | MON | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Pete Vuckovich | 6/3/1979 | LAD | W 6-4 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 2 | |
| Bob Gibson | 4/7/1975 | MON | L 4-8 | GS-8 ,L | 8 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 0 | |
| Al Santorini | 9/27/1972 | NYM | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 8/30/1972 | SFG | L 2-3 | CG 9 ,L | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/17/1972 | HOU | W 3-2 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 | |
| Scipio Spinks | 6/25/1972 | 1 | NYM | W 7-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 0 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/28/1971 | CIN | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 6/22/1971 | LAD | W 6-5 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 8/12/1970 | SDP | W 5-4 | CG 14 ,W | 14 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 1 | |
| Bob Gibson | 6/17/1970 | SDP | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 5/23/1970 | PHI | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 5/21/1970 | PHI | L 3-4 | GS-8 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 1 | |
| Bob Gibson | 4/26/1970 | CIN | W 4-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 9/15/1969 | NYM | L 3-4 | CG 9 ,L | 9 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 2 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/30/1969 | SDP | W 5-2 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 7/16/1969 | PHI | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 6/27/1969 | CHC | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 6/8/1969 | HOU | L 1-2 | GS-10 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 8/28/1968 | PIT | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 8/24/1968 | PIT | L 4-6 | CG 9 ,L | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 1 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/21/1968 | 1 | NYM | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Bob Gibson | 6/15/1968 | CIN | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Steve Carlton | 9/20/1967 | PHI | L 1-3 | CG 8 ,L | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/3/1967 | CIN | W 7-3 | GS-8 ,W | 7.2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 1 | |
| Dick Hughes | 5/30/1967 | CIN | L 1-2 | CG 8 ,L | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 5/29/1967 | 1 | CIN | W 2-1 | CG 11 ,W | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| Bob Gibson | 5/2/1967 | CIN | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 4/11/1967 | SFG | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 6/7/1966 | PIT | L 1-9 | GS-8 ,L | 7 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 5/6/1966 | SFG | L 2-4 | CG 9 ,L | 9 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 1 | |
| Ray Sadecki | 9/8/1965 | PIT | L 1-2 | GS-7 ,L | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/7/1965 | SFG | L 2-4 | CG 13 ,L | 13 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 1 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/2/1965 | NYM | W 6-3 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 1 | |
| Bob Gibson | 6/27/1965 | 1 | CHC | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Bob Gibson | 9/15/1964 | 2 | MLN | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/24/1964 | PIT | W 5-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 5/20/1964 | CHC | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 8/23/1963 | HOU | W 4-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/17/1963 | CIN | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 6/28/1963 | HOU | W 9-2 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | |
| Bob Gibson | 7/18/1962 | CHC | W 2-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | |
| Bob Gibson | 6/13/1962 | PHI | W 6-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | |
| Ernie Broglio | 7/29/1960 | PHI | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Ernie Broglio | 7/15/1960 | CHC | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | |
| Sam Jones | 8/30/1958 | CHC | L 1-3 | CG 10 ,L | 10 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 1 | |
| Sam Jones | 8/22/1958 | PHI | W 9-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 1 | |
| Larry Jackson | 8/4/1958 | LAD | W 3-2 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Sam Jones | 7/20/1958 | CIN | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Sam Jones | 6/6/1958 | PHI | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | |
| Sam Jones | 7/17/1957 | BRO | W 7-3 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 1 | |
| Herm Wehmeier | 5/2/1957 | BRO | W 3-2 | GS-12 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| Harvey Haddix | 4/29/1954 | PIT | L 3-4 | 8.2 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
As always, a special thanks to Tom Orf for his research included above.
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Carlton lost 4 times among 7 games with 12Ks, so Wainwright is in good company.
The Padres fielded a weak hitting lineup last night, yet still won. Revolting.
This game reminded me of one last year when Pineiro won, but only by knocking in two runs himself with a double. He had to do it all.
Its getting to be the time of year for winning teams to turn it on. Mo and TLR are probably concerned.
I cannot understand how Jon Jay cannot score from 2B on a hit with 2 outs.