Cardinals' Adam Wainwright: Bounces back in Thursday start

Wainwright gave up three earned runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk over four innings in Thursday's 5-3 Grapefruit League win over the Marlins.

Analysis:

The veteran right-hander bounced back from a disastrous start last Friday versus the Mets to fire 47 of 71 pitches for strikes as per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Wainwright is scheduled for one more outing before he makes his regular season debut in the Cardinals' second game. The four innings matched Wainwright's longest stint of the spring and left the two-time 20-game winner feeling particularly good about his cutter. "I had altered my cutter grip without knowing it," Wainwright said. "Today, the pitches that were 86, 87 [mph], those are cutters. Earlier in the spring, they were 82, 83 [mph]. So it's getting back to where it needs to be."