Wainwright + Carpenter = Keys to Success

With the Cardinals beginning to pull away in the Central Division race, the front office is frantically looking to plug the team’s final two holes, a right handed reliever and a legitimate 5th starter for the rotation. Luckily, Todd Wellemeyer went onto the disabled list recently, making it impossible for Tony LaRussa to even attempt putting him back into the rotation….for now. I hope Wellemeyer finds his stuff again, I really do. But this has just been an off year for him and it’s time to shut him down and let him forget about baseball for a little while until he gets his head on straight.

For once I will not be writing about the problems that the Cardinals have, but rather what has been going right. There have been two people all year that the team and its fans have been able to count on all year to show up. Two guys that have stepped up to be imperative leaders on this squad.

No. It’s not Albert Pujols or new found Cardinal Matt Holliday.

I’m speaking of Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter.



This one, two punch in the Cards’ rotation has been amazing. Wainwright is currently tied for the National League lead in wins with 13, while Carpenter is in second with 12. Carpenter currently has the second best ERA in the Majors with a mark of 2.27. Wainwright is not too far behind with a 2.73 ERA. Wainwright is fourth in the Majors with 165 innings pitched this season, while Carpenter has been the most efficient pitcher, averaging 13.56 pitches per inning which just barely edges out teammate Joel Pineiro (13.69).

Pitching has been key this year, especially since the offense did not wake up until the trade acquisition of Matt Holliday. Carpenter and Wainwright both stepped up to the challenge, keeping their team in the game when their team could barely muster three or four runs. It will not surprise me if both Carpenter and Wainwright finish one and two in the National League Cy Young Award Vote.

The pitching one, two punch is not an uncommon thing amongst postseason contenders. In fact, a pitching duo has historically led to a championship. So get out your Batman and Robin costumes, here are the greatest postseason pitching duos of the last fifteen years.

4. DAVID CONE, DAVID WELLS (New York Yankees)


YEAR: 1998


We start with, quite possibly the best team to ever play Major League Baseball. The 1998 Yankees won 114 regular season games, 125 including the playoffs. You could argue that if your offense is as prolific as the Yankees’ was in ’98, you don’t need a 1, 2 pitching punch. Not necessarily the case. The 2001 Mariners won 116 games in the regular season but didn’t make it to the World Series.

In the 1998 season, David Cone recorded a 20-7 record while Wells went 18-4. Wells pitched a perfect game on May 18, 1998, an accomplishment that Cone would repeat a year later. Wells pitched in Game 1 of the World Series against the San Diego Padres and lead the Yankees to a 9-6 victory. Cone took the mound in Game 3 and while he didn’t receive a decision, he did hold the Padres to three runs through seven innings, giving the Yankees time to amount a comeback to win the game and take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

3. GREG MADDUX, TOM GLAVINE (Atlanta Braves)


YEAR: 1995

The first thing that should come to mind when thinking about the Braves during the 1990s should be their incredible pitching staff. Or Bobby’s Cox’s ever expanding gut. Either one is acceptable.

The Braves were stacked in 1995 with pitching. With Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine (both 300 game winners) leading the charge, it’s no wonder why they won it all in 1995. Maddux pitched Game 1 and Game 5, winning the first game. He threw a complete game in Game 1, giving up two unearned runs.

Glavine won Games 2 and 6 compiling fourteen innings pitched with an ERA of 1.61 on his way to being named World Series MVP.

2. PEDRO MARTINEZ, CURT SCHILLING (Boston Red Sox)


YEAR: 2004

While the 2004 postseason is best known for a stained sock instead of an awesome back and fourth seven game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros that saw walk-off home runs in back-to-back nights and a legendary diving catch to save the game by Jim Edmonds and a go-ahead home run off of Roger Clemens by Scott Rolen (don’t worry, I’m not bitter that dirty laundry is more legendary than pure awesomeness), it’s often forgotten that Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling gave the Red Sox the duel aces they had been looking for.


In 2004, Schilling won over 20 games while Martinez tallied 16. In the two World Series games they pitched in, the Cardinals were only able to muster a total of two runs. Martinez pitched seven shutout innings in his Game 3 start.






Yeah, that catch isn't nearly as cool as a blood stained sock.

1. RANDY JOHNSON, CURT SCHILLING (Arizona Diamondbacks)


YEAR: 2001

The best 1, 2 punch any team could ask for. Randy Johnson was in his prime as was Curt Schilling. This duo was near unstoppable, and Curt Schilling didn’t need to paint a red spot on his sock in order to pitch well. And Johnson, what can you say about him in 2001? You knew he was going to be on his game when he managed to hit a bird in mid-air during spring training (see YouTube video). Guess the bird wasn’t guessing fastball.



During the regular season, Schilling won 22 games with an ERA under 3.00. Johnson won 21 games, but bettered Schilling with a 2.49 ERA and struck out 372 on his way to a Cy Young Award. Schilling was second in the Cy Young Vote.

In the World Series, the two combined to go 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA in 39.1 innings pitched. Johnson even came into Game 7 in relief of Schilling the night after winning Game 6 against the Yankees. Oh, and both pitchers were named Co-MVPs of the 2001 World Series.


So will the trend continue for the Cardinals? Only time will tell. Personally, I think Wainwright and Carpenter have the best chance of becoming the next great postseason duo. They have something none of the teams above had. Something dangerous and something consistent and something unstoppable.

Yes, this time I am talking about Albert Pujols.