South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Georgia’s Wainwright to lead Cardinals in Game 3
ST. LOUIS — When October baseball returns to St. Louis on Sunday, Adam Wainwright will get the ball for the Cardinals again. Just like he has for so many big games over the past 14 years.
It was almost a much different picture. If not for one December trade back in 2003, Wainwright might be pitching for the Braves in Game 3 of the NL Division Series.
The 38-year-old Georgia native, who was selected by the Braves in the first round of the 2000 amateur draft, will make his 13th postseason start when the Cardinals face Mike Soroka in the first postseason game in St. Louis in four years.
“Feeling that playoff buzz in the crowd when the games are actually going on, you can never replace it or replicate it any other place in life that I've seen,” he said. ”It's just a feeling that is beyond compare.”
The NL East and Central champions split the first two games of the best-of-five series in Atlanta. Paul Goldschmidt homered to help the Cardinals rally for a 7-6 victory in the opener, and Mike Foltynewicz pitched seven sparkling innings in the Braves’ 3-0 win in Game 2.
St. Louis, a regular October playground before its longest drought in two decades, might not seem like the best spot for a playoff debut, but Soroka is no ordinary pitcher.
The 22-year-old right-hander went 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA in 16 road starts this year, compared with 6-3 and a 4.14 ERA at home.
For a long time, Wainwright was hoping to pitch in big games for the Braves. He was a prep star in Brunswick, Georgia, when he was drafted by the Braves with the 29th overall pick in 2000.
He had just finished a solid season playing for Snitker at Double-A Greenville when he was shipped to St. Louis with Jason Marquis and Ray King for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero.
Drew hit .305 with 31 homers in his only season with Atlanta, but the Braves were eliminated by the Astros in the first round of the 2004 playoffs — part of a streak of nine straight playoff series losses that is one away from the Cubs' record for postseason futility.
Cards reliever irked by Braves’ Chop:
The Braves are promising to continue their dialogue with the Native American community in the wake of Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley’s criticism of the Tomahawk Chop chant.
Helsley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he thinks the chant is insulting, and the 25-year-old rookie was disappointed when it was heard during Game 1 of the NLDS.
Helsley is a member of the Cherokee nation. The Tahlequah, Oklahoma, native speaks the Cherokee language and is one of only a few Native Americans in the majors.
The Braves say they “appreciate and take seriously” Helsley’s concerns.