With his win on Sunday against the Washington Nationals by a 2-1 score, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright became the first 16-game winner in Major League Baseball this season.
In addition to strengthening his 2009 National League Cy Young Award candidacy, Wainwright extended a Cardinals-best season streak that he began three starts ago.
Starting with Adam’s August 19th outing in Dodger Stadium, Cardinals starting pitchers have now allowed three or fewer runs in 11 consecutive games and counting. It is not surprising that the team has gone 9-2 during this stretch.
The starters themselves are 7-1 with three no-decisions as six different starters have contributed to the streak. They include Wainwright (three), Chris Carpenter (two), Joel Pineiro (two), John Smoltz (two), Kyle Lohse (one) and Mitchell Boggs (one).
Starting pitcher allowing three or fewer runs, consecutive games, longest streak, 2009 Cardinals
| Gm | Pitcher | Date | Opp | G | StL | Opp | App | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| 11 | Adam Wainwright | 8/30/2009 | WSN | W | 2 | 1 | GS-6 | W | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Mitchell Boggs | 8/29/2009 | WSN | W | 9 | 4 | GS-6 | W | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | John Smoltz | 8/28/2009 | WSN | W | 3 | 2 | GS-6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 8 | Chris Carpenter | 8/27/2009 | HOU | L | 3 | 4 | GS-6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 7 | Joel Pineiro | 8/26/2009 | HOU | W | 3 | 2 | GS-8 | W | 8 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Adam Wainwright | 8/25/2009 | HOU | W | 1 | 0 | GS-8 | W | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | John Smoltz | 8/23/2009 | @SDP | W | 5 | 2 | GS-5 | W | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | Chris Carpenter | 8/22/2009 | @SDP | W | 7 | 0 | GS-7 | W | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Kyle Lohse | 8/21/2009 | @SDP | L | 0 | 4 | GS-4 | L | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Joel Pineiro | 8/20/2009 | @SDP | W | 5 | 1 | GS-8 | W | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 1 | Adam Wainwright | 8/19/2009 | @LAD | W | 3 | 2 | GS-7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
The previous longest streak by the Cardinals staff this season was nine games, started exactly three months earlier on May 19, running through May 27.
Starting pitcher allowing three or fewer runs, consecutive games, previous longest streak, 2009 Cardinals
| Gm | Pitcher | Date | Opp | G | StL | Opp | App | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| 9 | Todd Wellemeyer | 5/27/2009 | @MIL | W | 3 | 2 | GS-6 | W | 5.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Adam Wainwright | 5/26/2009 | @MIL | W | 8 | 1 | GS-7 | W | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 7 | Chris Carpenter | 5/25/2009 | @MIL | L | 0 | 1 | GS-8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 6 | Joel Pineiro | 5/24/2009 | KCR | L | 2 | 3 | GS-7 | L | 7 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Kyle Lohse | 5/23/2009 | KCR | W | 5 | 0 | GS-8 | W | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Todd Wellemeyer | 5/22/2009 | KCR | W | 5 | 0 | GS-6 | W | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Adam Wainwright | 5/21/2009 | CHC | W | 3 | 1 | GS-9 | W | 8.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Chris Carpenter | 5/20/2009 | CHC | W | 2 | 1 | GS-5 | W | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 1 | Joel Pineiro | 5/19/2009 | CHC | W | 3 | 0 | SHO9 | W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
A tip of the cap to Tom Orf for his research.