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Cards pummel Giants, 'Freak'
ST. LOUIS -- One more win and another bunch of wild-card Cardinals get their chance to repeat.
Adam Wainwright threw seven innings of four-hit ball and St. Louis roughed up Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants in an 8-3 rout Thursday night that gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the NL championship series.
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The defending World Series champions can wrap up their second straight pennant as a wild card with a victory at home Friday night in Game 5. Lance Lynn faces Giants lefty Barry Zito, and a Cardinals win would set up a 2006 World Series rematch with Detroit.
"We've got to close them out tomorrow," Wainwright said.
Matt Holliday, Jon Jay and Yadier Molina had two RBIs apiece to lead a 12-hit outburst by a team that batted just .198 through the first three games against San Francisco.
"They had their backs against the wall against the Reds and won three in a row, so we've still got our work cut out for us and this series is by no means over," Holliday said.
Lincecum was a bust in his first post-season start since the 2010 World Series clincher over Texas, giving up four runs in 4 2-3 innings.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner with the quirky delivery earned a shot based on nearly spotless relief work earlier in the post-season but reverted to regular-season form, when he was 10-15 with a 5.18 ERA, worst among qualifying starters in the National League.
Glorified
Wainwright was a glorified cheerleader while rehabbing from reconstructive elbow surgery during the Cardinals' improbable title drive last fall after earning the wild card on the final day of the season and then upsetting the favoured Phillies, Brewers and Rangers to give manager Tony La Russa a chance to retire on top.
Under rookie manager Mike Matheny, the 88-win Cardinals were the final team to qualify this year, too. Once again, they've stepped up their game.
Wainwright bounced back from a poor outing in Game 5 of the NL division series against Washington, striking out five and walking none for his first post-season victory as a starter.
"It was a big motivator," he said. "I know that I'm good enough to pitch in the post-season, to carry this team deep into the game, give them a quality game, a quality outing."
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 19, 2012 C7
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