ST. LOUIS (AP) — Albert Pujols launched a pinch-hit grand slam and drove in five runs, Adam Wainwright pitched seven sharp innings and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Colorado Rockies 13-0 Thursday for a three-game sweep.
“We’re playing right now, I think the way that we were expecting ourselves to play early in the year,” Pujols said. “We didn’t, but we had some glimpses here and there. Now we’re playing the best baseball we have played all year long.”
Wainwright called Pujols “incredible.”
“He looks the same as when he left to me,” Wainwright said. “This is what he’s supposed to look like, here this stadium, doing these things.”
The Elias Sports Bureau said the Cardinals were the first team in big league history to have a player at least 40 years old hit a grand slam and another at least 40 to pitch seven shutout innings in the same game. Pujols is 42, two years older than Wainwright.
The Rockies lost starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela and right fielder Charlie Blackmon in the second inning to leg injuries. Senzatela crumpled to the ground after attempting to cover first base and Blackmon was removed an inning after beating out an infield single.
Rockies manager Bud Black said Blackmon is not expected to go on the injured list, but will probably not start in the next game. He wasn’t as confident on Senzatela’s outlook. Both players will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
“Antonio is going to get a MRI in the morning,” Black said. “He definitely has a (left) knee sprain to a certain extent. How significant? We won’t know until tomorrow. Devastating, right?”
The NL Central-leading Cardinals won their fourth in a row and sent Colorado to its fifth straight loss. St. Louis has won 12 of its last 13 home games and has taken 12…