Winless Leake remains positive

ST. LOUIS — Though several of his early-season starts have come unraveled by one complicated inning, right-hander Mike Leake said he does not believe the trouble relates specifically to pitching out of the stretch.

Whether there’s a correlation, Leake remains winless on the season, largely because he has let one inning get away each outing. In four of his six starts, Leake has allowed three-plus runs in a single frame. In each of his last two outings, the troublesome inning seemingly came out of nowhere, as Leake preceded it by retiring nine in a row.

“It seems to spiral for a couple batters and then it goes back to normal,” Leake said. “It’s just a matter of figuring that out and getting better.”

That will require getting better results out of the stretch, as opponents have hit .314 off Leake with a runner on base compared to a .256 average with nobody on. It’s a discrepancy that has not been present in the past, as Leake entered the year with essentially the same results …

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