Wainwright's HR supplies all the offense, earns odd piece of history
Today's quirky stat comes from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Starting pitcher Adam Wainwright drilled a two-run home run off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy. Pitchers hitting home runs is pretty rare at the best of times, but Wainwright accomplished something even rarer with this particular long ball.
Related: Wainwright takes Dodgers' McCarthy yard for 10th homer run of career
His home run accounted for the only two runs scored by either team in the game, as the Cardinals went on to win 2-0. The team announced it was the first time in franchise history that a pitcher both recorded a shutout and provided all the offense in the game with a home run.
Surprisingly, it's happened a few other times in MLB history. Five games since the year 2000 have fit the same criteria:
| Date | Pitcher | Score | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 28 2002 | Odalis Perez (LAD) vs. ARI | 1-0 | 1 | 1 |
| July 28 2005 | Brad Hennessey (SFG) vs. MIL | 3-0 | 1 | 3 |
| April 29 2009 | Yovani Gallardo (MIL) vs. PIT | 1-0 | 1 | 1 |
| June 20 2011 | Tim Hudson (ATL) vs. TOR | 2-0 | 1 | 2 |
| July 21 2015 | Nate Karns (TB) vs. PHI | 1-0 | 1 | 1 |
Nate Karns had the distinction of being the only pitcher playing for an American League team in that span to accomplish the feat.
Expanding the search to include all-time results, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Siebert is the only pitcher to achieve the feat while launching two homers in the same game. He did that on Sept. 2, 1971.
Wainwright's home run was his second of the season, raising his batting average to .273 in the process.