Michael Wacha epitomizes Cardinals pitching woes

11:57 PM ET

ST. LOUIS — Michael Wacha is in a long, deep slump.

He has lost five straight decisions and is the first Cardinals pitcher in nine years to allow six or more runs in three straight outings. The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen had to scramble into action during the first inning as the Chicago Cubs batted around on their way to an easy 12-3 win Tuesday night.

“It’s a pretty discouraging start,” Wacha said afterward.

If you tie it to the end of 2015, you could argue that Wacha has been searching for his early-career form for about his last 16 starts. A slump of this breadth would typically spur a team to find other options for its rotation, but the Cardinals don’t seem to be thinking that way, at least not now, with their prized 24-year-old.

Michael Wacha has had his head down a lot during the last four starts. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports

Manager Mike Matheny said Wacha will remain in the rotation despite a 10.00 ERA in his last four starts, in which he has allowed 30 hits in 18 innings.

“He’s still a young player. I think we forget about all that,” Matheny said. “He jumps on the scene in the postseason and had all that success and we throw him right into a category like he’s got all this figured out or seen enough bumps to know how to sort through it, but he’s a young player. Sometimes, it takes a little while to get out of it.”

The question is: Can the Cardinals, now seven games behind the …

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