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In his seven-year major league career, 31-year-old former Atlanta Braves' 1st Round pick Adam Wainwright, who was acquired by the Cardinals in a December 2003 trade that sent the 6'7'' right-hander and pitchers Ray King and Jason Marquis to St. Louis in return for outfielder J.D. Drew and C/IF/OF Eli Marrero, is (4-3) in 10 games, eight starts and 50 IP against the Washington Nationals with a 3.60 ERA, 16 walks (2.88 BB/9), 50 Ks (9.00 K/9), a 1.40 WHIP and .270 BAA. So far this season, the Nats have beaten Wainwright, scoring six runs on three walks and nine hits against the right-hander in an August 31st start in D.C. Washington won 10-0, and been shut down by the Cards' starter, scoring just one run on five hits in 6.0 IP in a September 28th start in Busch Stadium in St. Louis that ended the 2012 campaign for the veteran of ten postseason appearances (just one of them a start), who will face the Nationals again on Sunday in the first game of the National League Division Series.
According to reports out of St. Louis this afternoon it will be Wainwright in game one after the Cardinals threw Kyle Lohse on Friday in the Wild Card Game win over Atlanta:
Rotation is as PD reported: Wainwright, Garcia, Carpenter for Game 3, then Lohse and Wainwright if needed. #Cardinals #NLDS #STLCards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) October 6, 2012
Wainwright will, of course, be facing Washington Nationals' left-hander Gio Gonzalez, whose lone career outing against the Cardinals is a complete game shutout in that 10-1 Nats' win over the Wainwright and St. Louis back on August 31st in D.C. Gonzalez gave up five hits and three walks that day, but no runs and he struck 10 Cardinals out on the way to his second complete game of the season, which was the third in his five year career, but the first one in which he threw a shutout.
• More later, both teams are talking to reporters now after getting workouts in earlier this afternoon:
Gio Gonzalez at the microphone for his first Postseason session in the Interview Room. #Nationals yfrog.com/od684acj
— Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) October 6, 2012
"It's my first #Postseason experience. To do it in St. Louis is a dream," @giogonzalez47 twitter.com/Nationals/stat…
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) October 6, 2012
Adam Wainwright called himself "an embarrassment to baseball," in April, and said he's preparing to "pitch the game of my life" Sunday.
— Amanda Comak (@acomak) October 6, 2012