Without really having been absent, Michael Wacha returned Friday night.
This was the pitcher who had been 7-0 with a 1.87 earned run average after his first nine starts for the Cardinals this season. In his next 10 starts, the other one had been 4-4 with a 4.35 ERA and, over his previous three outings, Wacha had allowed 13 runs in 17 innings.
But Wacha’s fastball command came back against the Colorado Rockies in his 20th start of the season, and so did he.
Running his victory total to 12, second behind Pittsbrgh’s Gerrit Cole (14) for the National League lead, Wacha stifled the Rockies on four hits and one walk for seven innings as the Cardinals rode a five-run sixth inning into a 7-0 cruise at Busch Stadium.