ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright recovered from a shaky start to earn his 14th win, tying for the major league lead, and rookie Kolten Wong homered twice to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.
Jhonny Peralta’s two-run double keyed a three-run first off Brandon Workman and Wong had his first multihomer game. The Cardinals took 2 of 3 from their stripped-down opponents, who beat them in the World Series last fall but are in last place in the AL East.
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UP NEXT
WHO: Red Sox (Buchholz 5-7) at Angels (TBA)
WHEN: 9 p.m. Friday
TELEVISION: NESN
Wainwright (14-6) needed 66 pitches to slog through the first three innings after the start was delayed by rain for more than an hour for the second straight night. The 6-foot-7 right-hander retired 11 straight before Boston put two on with two outs in the seventh.
Manager Mike Matheny left his ace in and Yoenis Cespedes took a third strike on a full-count curveball, catcher Tony Cruz sprinting to the dugout before home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom’s call.
Wainwright has won at least 14 games each of the last three seasons.
Wily Peralta won his 14th game earlier Thursday for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who are one game ahead of St. Louis.
Workman (1-5) retired nine straight before Wong lined a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall with one out in the fifth to put the Cardinals up 4-2. Wong then added his ninth homer in the seventh, a 423-foot shot off Craig Breslow.
Mike Napoli and Christian Vasquez each drove in a run in the third, Wainwright’s roughest inning. He had seven strikeouts and allowed seven hits, four of them in the third.
SLOW STARTERS
Workman has totaled 70 pitches in the first inning his last two starts, allowing five runs. He faced eight batters in St. Louis’ three-run first.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: David Ortiz was scratched because of concerns with wet grounds after day-long rains saturated the field and Napoli got the start at first base instead. Ortiz pinch-hit in the eighth and lined out.
Cardinals: Closer Trevor Rosenthal made his fourth straight appearance in a five-day span on Wednesday and took the loss, surrendering the go-ahead run. He didn’t warm up during the finale. All-Star setup man Pat Neshek finished for his third save in five chances, and first since June 17.
NOTABLE
The Cardinals have won all four interleague series against the Red Sox and are 8-4 overall. … Boston center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was hitless in three at-bats before coming out in a double switch and is in an 0-for-27 slump.
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