Coverage of tonight's Cards and Brewers game can be heard on Newstalk 97.3 WTIM beginning at 6:40pm.

St.  Louis, MO  (SportsNetwork.com) - Looking for something beyond command and 
velocity  and other inside-baseball reasons why Adam Wainwright is pitching so 
well? 

Let the man himself give you another one. 

"I'm having more fun pitching now than I ever have," Wainwright said. 

It hasn't been much fun for opposing hitters. 

Wainwright  stretched his  shutout streak to 25 innings and Jhonny Peralta hit 
two  homers, leading the  St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh 
Pirates on Sunday to complete a three-game series. 

Wainwright  (5-1) had  seven strikeouts in eight innings, giving up just three 
hits  and two walks and becoming the first five-game winner in the majors this 
season. 

The right-hander has won four starts in a row since suffering his only loss of 
the  season  April 6  against Pittsburgh.  He threw  67 of  his 99 pitches for 
strikes  on Sunday  and his earned-run average  dipped from 1.46 to 1.20 in 45 
innings this season. 

It wasn't even his best start of the season. Before blanking the Mets in seven 
innings last Tuesday, Wainwright threw a two-hit shutout against the Nationals 
on April 17 -- and only one of the hits left the infield. 

"He  was the  same guy  we've  seen all  season,  an absolute  joy to  watch," 
Cardinals  manager Mike Matheny said of the two-time Cy Young Award runner-up. 
"And we actually got big hits today and gave him a little room to breathe." 

Peralta  snapped  St. Louis' 10-game homerless  streak with a solo shot in the 
fifth  inning, then added a three-run blast in the sixth to give the Cardinals 
a 6-0 lead and chase Pittsburgh starter Edinson Volquez (1-2) from the game. 

Volquez praised Wainwright after the game. 

"He's unbelievable. He's a superstar," Volquez said. 

St.  Louis won two of three in the series, also taking the first game in a 1-0 
shutout. 

The Pirates fell to 2-8 in their last 10. 

Peralta's second homer came during a four-run sixth that almost never was. The 
Pirates  lost a replay challenge after a would-be 5-4-3 double play was waived 
off when Yadier Molina was ruled safe at first base. 

First  base umpire Ted Barrett ruled that Ike Davis' foot came off the base on 
a wide throw by second baseman Neil Walker, and the call stood after a lengthy 
review. 

Allen  Craig  followed with an  RBI single and  Peralta cracked a 3-2 changeup 
into the visitors bullpen behind left field for his sixth homer of the season. 

Volquez gave up six runs on seven hits and a walk in his 5 2/3 innings. 

Matt  Holliday and  Molina both  had sacrifice  flies in  the game  and Carlos 
Martinez  struck out  three in  a  perfect ninth  inning to  keep the  shutout 
intact. 

The  Pirates had  three singles. They put  a runner on third base in the sixth 
after  Wainwright hit  Jose Tabata with one out and Pedro Alvarez singled with 
two down. 

                                   Game Notes 

Wainwright  is 10-5  in 20 career starts against the Pirates ... The Cardinals 
will  finish a six-game homestand with three against Milwaukee starting Monday 
...  The Pirates will play two games in Baltimore starting Tuesday to complete 
a five-game road trip.