Hit nice, but Waino more pleased with pitches

PHOENIX — Adam Wainwright knows that most everyone will want to talk about his bases-loaded triple, the first by a Cardinals pitcher in such a spot since 2005 and the hit that keyed the Cardinals’ 11-4 win over the D-backs on Wednesday.

But while he took back with the bat the runs he gave up on the mound, Wainwright’s long-term takeaway from his first win of the season came from the pitches he threw, not the one he hit.

“My results didn’t match my stuff,” Wainwright said after allowing four runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. “My stuff was dramatically different and better than it has been. To be honest with you, the starts before, I knew that my stuff was going to be good, but I also knew that it wasn’t good. There’s a big difference, mentally, to know that your stuff is good when it hasn’t been.”

It was a sigh of relief for a veteran pitcher who had been groping for his command all month. In danger of losing four consecutive decisions for the second time in his 11-year career, Wainwright found his pitches to be crisper, and he took the bevy of ground balls he induced as an indicator that he had his late life back.

Getting to this point involved plenty of soul searching and a willingness to turn to some of his …

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