Wainwright, Goldschmidt help Cardinals roll to 2-0

ST. LOUIS — Paul Goldschmidt homered, Adam Wainwright pitched six solid innings, and the Cardinals beat the Pirates 9-1 on Saturday.

Wainwright (1-0) pitched out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the second, giving up just one run. He retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced as the Cardinals beat the Pirates for the 12th time in their last 13 games.

The veteran had trouble regulating body temperature early on as the heat index soared above triple-digits.

“It’s just certainly, especially when you get to be the old owl on the team, things get a little harder as you get older, so you got to figure out ways and tricks, little ways to stay in the game,” Wainwright said. “For me, I looked around behind me at my defense and I knew they had it. So, I tried to attack the zone.”

John Gant, Tyler Webb and Daniel Ponce de Leon combined for three scoreless innings of relief as the Cardinals pitchers held the Pirates to just three hits.

Wainwright’s 163rd career victory moved him into a tie with Bob Forsch for third-most wins in Cardinals history.

“He’s still in the process of being able to compete so you know he was going to have a shorter rope in the sixth, but he went 1-2-3, made his quality pitches,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s a warrior guy, and third all-time with Forsch, that’s pretty impressive.”

Wainwright continued his domihis nance against the Pirates at Busch Stadium, where he hasn’t dropped a decision to them since June 29, 2012. He has pitched at least five innings in all 19 career home starts against the Bucs.

Dexter Fowler and Tyler O’Neill broke a 1-all tie with RBI singles in the fourth inning.

Paul DeJong’s two-run single in the seventh gave him four RBIs through the season’s first two games.

Matt Carpenter followed with a two-run double that broke the game open.