Ace's woes threaten Cardinals' shot

— -- ST. LOUIS -- The secret is out.

St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is hurting and isn't mechanically sound at the moment. It means the Cardinals may have to grind out a series win in the NLCS -- if that's possible -- without their best pitcher at the top of his game.

"My arm doesn't feel great but it certainly should be a lot better results-wise than that," Wainwright said after dropping Game 1, 3-0 to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night. "I should be able to repeat my pitches."

If Wainwright can't be a factor moving forward, where will the wins come from? Lance Lynn takes the mound in Game 2 on Sunday night and might be the de facto stopper on this team right now, but his career postseason ERA is 4.57. So maybe the veteran John Lackey will lead the way in Game 3.

First up is Lynn.

"Being this is my fourth straight NLCS, I have a little bit of a clue what's going on," Lynn said. "Still don't have it figured out, but I'm looking forward to this one."

He'll have to figure it out quickly -- Lynn gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Round 1 -- because the Cardinals simply can't count on their ace at the moment. If you think that's harsh, consider this: Wainwright has never had back-to-back starts in which he failed to pitch five innings. Never in the regular season, never even in the same month has it happened.

Until now.

Wainwright lasted 4 2/3 innings on Saturday after lasting just 4 1/3 against the Dodgers in the NLDS. He's given up 17 hits and eight earned runs in two postseason starts.

"Definitely not sharp," Wainwright said shaking his head. "Definitely not sharp."

That brings us back to Lynn and Lackey as well as Shelby Miller who will pitch Game 4. Lucky for the Cardinals, they've had plenty of postseason experience save for Miller who'll make his second career playoff start on Wednesday. And Lackey has always raised his game in the playoffs. His career ERA drops from 4.03 to 2.92 once the calendar turns to October. And if the Cardinals are in need of a new face maybe they can turn to an old one as last season's postseason hero -- Michael Wacha -- is in the bullpen. There are options.

"We're trained to take the ball in any situation and not try to think about it too much," Miller said. "He's [Lynn] been in these situations before. He's dealt with pressure. I'm getting used to it as well."

In fairness to Wainwright, he was hurt by poor defense, so it's not like the Game 1 loss is all on him. But if he's not at his best in facing Madison Bumgarner again in Game 5, the Cardinals can't believe they'll have the advantage, no matter what they say. Bumgarner has turned into the top postseason pitcher this month.

"I don't believe we're at a deficit," Cards manager Mike Matheny said of the matchup. "Once again, we make a few plays and we could still be out there playing right now. I thought our bullpen came in and did a great job of picking up the slack, but there's going to be those times. We had them all season long, where our starters just had to work and find a way to keep us in the game. That's their job. And Adam has definitely set the tone for our club in that regard and has been -- he's been amazing at how he goes out there with whatever stuff he has and figures out a way to keep us there. And what he's normally asking for without saying it, he's going to need a little help, whether that's offensively or defensively."

Wainwright thinks his arm will feel better next start as it was better on Saturday than in his first outing this postseason. And after teammate A.J. Pierzynski pointed out some mechanical flaws, Wainwright believes he'll be better due to that as well.

"I was dramatically late getting the ball out of my glove," Wainwright stated. "It doesn't allow your arm to get into the proper position to throw the ball.

"I'm grading on a very high scale because I expect to be great. Today [Saturday] I was not great."

Whether Wainwright can take down Bumgarner next time they face each other isn't the pressing issue for the Cardinals right now. Getting the most out of their other starters, beginning with Lynn, comes well before any rematch of aces.

"At this point, we played so many games, the guys have had some heartbreakers," Matheny said. "They have had some great wins, some tough losses. They have been very resilient about coming back the next day and getting back to business and taking care of what they can take care of and not trying to win two games tomorrow [Sunday]. We have an opportunity to come back and play a better baseball game, and I'm certain that's what we'll do."