Cardinals 22-year-old starting pitcher Michael Wacha took the mound for Game 4 of the National League Division Series in Pittsburgh Monday afternoon. He put together another special outing in earning the win and evening up the series at two games apiece.
Wacha surrendered a long solo home run to Pedro Alvarez in the eighth inning with one out. He had not allowed a single hit to that point. Wacha finished after 7 1/3 innings of one-run, one-hit baseball and earned the win, his first in postseason play.
He walked two batters and struck out nine in the performance over 96 pitches. Wacha lost a no-hitter with two outs in his final start of the regular season. He's pitching his best baseball right now for St. Louis. Wacha finished his first major league season going 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA over 64 2/3 innings with 65 strikeouts.