ST. LOUIS -- The most pressing question in St. Louis baseball circles will be answered Saturday night when Adam Wainwright takes the Busch Stadium mound to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Giants (7 p.m. CT, FOX), the outcome of which could either allay or confirm the concern that has followed the Cardinals' ace all week:
"How's the right elbow?"
| Date | Time | Matchup | Network | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 11 | 8 p.m. ET | SF vs. STL | FOX |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 12 | 8 p.m. ET | SF vs. STL | FS1 |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 14 | 4 p.m. ET | STL vs. SF | FS1 |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 15 | 8 p.m. ET | STL vs. SF | FS1 |
| Gm 5* | Oct. 16 | 8 p.m. ET | STL vs. SF | FS1 |
| Gm 6* | Oct. 18 | 4 or 8 p.m. ET | SF vs. STL | FOX |
| Gm 7* | Oct. 19 | 7:30 p.m. ET | SF vs. STL | FS1 |
*if necessary.
"It's fine," Wainwright said, before muddling the matter by adding, "You know what, it's October. Every team is dealing with their individual stuff. The problem that I have is being way overblown. I'll be fine to pitch tomorrow, and I'll go out there and battle like I always do."
Like most Major League pitchers, Wainwright battled bumps and bruises throughout the season. In June, he skipped a start with a sore elbow. In August, he dealt with a "dead arm" phase. In Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers, Wainwright surrendered six runs and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings, matching his shortest start of the season -- which happened to be against these same Giants, a seven-run dud on May 30.
On Friday, six of the first eight questions fielded by Wainwright during an afternoon news conference were either directly or obliquely about the elbow. He confirmed that, yes, he had some discomfort against the Dodgers, but insisted, no, he is not worried about it.
"Here is the positive, I can be very honest about this, because I've been through it," Wainwright said. "When I took a game off after my Tampa start [in June], I aggravated my elbow, and it's the backside of my elbow. So the elbow-fearing world can know it's not my ligament. … And after that, it goes on the mend and gets better and better progressively.
"The other day, I aggravated that same spot on the backside of my elbow, and now I'm on the mend, and I can feel something. I'm very confident about it, because I felt that before, the exact same thing. I was able to recover very well from it. I have no doubts going into [Game 1]."
After taking 10 days off between starts in June, Wainwright returned to beat the Phillies in an eight-inning, one-run, seven-strikeout performance, beginning a five-start stretch in which he posted a 0.96 ERA and pitched at least seven innings each time. It included a July 2 start at San Francisco, in which Wainwright pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
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