Michael Wacha seems to be close to the form that made him one of the most intriguing pitchers in the National League two seasons ago.
Wacha won his third straight decision to start the season, beating the Washington Nationals 4-1 to give the St. Louis Cardinals a series win.
The Cardinals have had the Nationals’ number since stunning them with a ninth-inning rally in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS. They’ve won 13 of 16 regular-season games against the Nationals over the past three seasons.
The Cardinals’ 10-4 start is one win shy of the best 14-game start in team history. They now lead the majors with a 2.06 ERA.
Wacha had only five wins in 19 starts last season and allowed the walk-off homer to the Giants' Travis Ishikawa that ended the Cardinals' season in the NLCS.
But this season, he, Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn are 6-2 with a 1.53 ERA in nine starts.
How he won
Entering Thursday, the Nationals had hit .219 in at-bats ending with pitches on the inner third of the plate or off the inside corner. That ranked 22nd in baseball.
Wacha targeted that weakness.
After throwing inside 15 percent of the time in his first two starts, Wacha worked 33 percent of pitches on the inner third.
The Nationals went 1-for-11 in pitches to that location against Wacha.
Key this season for Wacha is that he’s limited damage on balls hit in the air. Opposing hitters are 1-for-16 when hitting a fly ball against him and 5-for-9 when hitting a line drive (hitters typically bat over .700 on line drives).
He’s also kept left-handers in check, limiting them to five hits in 35 at-bats. That’s resemblant of 2013, when he held lefties to a .197 batting average and one home run in 117 at-bats.
Three of a kind
Wacha is the third pitcher this season to allow one run or fewer in each of his first three starts, along with Nick Martinez of the Rangers and Shane Greene of the Tigers.
You might recall that Wacha previously had a run like that on a big stage -- in the 2013 postseason, when he won three straight starts and allowed one run in 21 innings.