Wainright, Cardinals muscle up in 10-3 win against Phillies

ST. LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright knew his mammoth home run changed the complexion of Monday night's game.

"Right now, it's all about wins for me," Wainwright said. "We've got to win the game when I take the mound until I get back 100 percent ready to rock and roll like I'm going to.

"But that homer woke us up a bit. We had some ducks on the pond there and I came through."

Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three-run home run -- the first of five for St. Louis -- as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Matt Adams, rookie Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added solo homers and Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to help St. Louis overcome a 3-0 deficit and avoid its first five-game slide since losing seven straight from July 26-31, 2013.

Wainwright, who has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, has won two straight. Wainwright (2-3) was the last Cardinals pitcher to get a win after yielding four runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 rout at Arizona on April 27.

In this victory, Wainwright pitched six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He improved to 6-2 in 11 career starts against the Phillies.

"Everything was good," Wainwright said. "I've got to get my hook going better. I've got to get the curveball not be so loopy. I expect it to be right and it will be eventually. I was very confident coming into the game. From the first pitch I threw in Arizona, I knew I was on the right track."

"I'm very close. I really am."

Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-2) got chased after 5 1/3 innings. In his first outing against St. Louis since 2011, Hellickson gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks as the Phillies had a six-game winning streak end.

"I fell behind too many guys," Hellickson said. "I couldn't find the zone. I didn't have too many first-pitch strikes and I couldn't get myself back in the counts. I had too many balls up."

The Cardinals tied the game 3-3 in the fourth inning when Wainwright walloped a three-run homer 408 feet into the second deck in left field. Wainwright hit a 3-1 fastball for his seventh career home run and first since Sept. 5, 2012, against the New York Mets.

"Ever since I was 8 years old, I've dreamed about hitting the ball like that," Wainwright said. "So, I'm one for however many at-bats I've had in my life hitting it like that. I knew that was a home run. I've hit some really far homers in Little League whatever but I've never hit a ball and known it was gone. I've always sprinted out of the box and say 'Go, go,' but I've never known it was a homer but I knew this one was."

So did catcher Yadier Molina.

"I was jumping up and down like a little kid, I was so happy for him," Molina said.

In his previous two plate appearances, Wainwright had extra base hits. He doubled in the first inning and hit a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Arizona.

St. Louis made it 5-3 on back-to-back home runs by Adams and Diaz to start the sixth. Diaz' 417-foot blast, his fifth, went into the second deck in left field. The sixth run came on Stephen Piscotty's RBI single.

Wong hit his first homer of the season with two outs in the eighth and Grichuk followed with a solo shot, giving St. Louis a 9-3 lead.

St. Louis hit six homers in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati on April 15.

The final run for the Cardinals came on an RBI single by Brandon Moss.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the third on three singles and a walk. Freddy Galvis drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double to left.

"If the damage is going to be done in one inning, I've got to keep it to one inning," Wainwright said.

Philadelphia manager Pete Mackinin was philosophical about the loss.

"We haven't had one of those games in a while," Mackinin said. "It's bound to happen to everyone now and then. We jumped out to a three-run lead and we just couldn't hold it."

STATISTICAL ODDITY

The Cardinals got home runs from the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the lineup.

BATTING EIGHTH

The Phillies hit their pitcher in the eighth slot in the lineup for the 11th straight game. Philadelphia is 9-2 with that arrangement.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Phillies: LF Cody Asche, who has been on the 15-day DL due to a Grade 1 strain of his right oblique he suffered in February, took some swings before the game as he starts to begin some baseball activities.

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who sustained a left oblique strain on Opening Day, took batting practice for the first time Monday since going on the DL April. 4. It is expected Pham may begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. He has missed 25 games.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. Nola's last two starts have been solid. The 22-year-old rookie, who was the Phillies' 2014 first-round draft pick, threw seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball in a 5-2 win in Milwaukee on April 22. In his last outing, Nola allowed two hits during seven innings in a 3-0 win at Washington but did not get the decision.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07) will make his sixth start of the season. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts with the Cardinals winning three games. He threw a season-high seven innings in his last start, a 3-0 loss at Arizona. He had a season-high nine strikeouts but gave up two home runs after not allowing any in his first four starts.