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Wainwright trying to keep Cardinals playoff hopes alive

Sep 7, 2008 - 12:44 PM Florida (72-70) at St. Louis (76-66) 2:15 pm. EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Don't tell St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright the team's postseason dreams are slipping away.

Wainwright is doing all he can to keep the Cardinals' fading hopes alive, and will look to lead them to a second straight win over the Florida Marlins on Sunday.

The Cardinals trail the Milwaukee Brewers (82-60) by six games in the wild card, but Wainwright is not conceding anything.

"There's no sportswriter, no fan that's telling me we're out of this thing. Until the last game of the season I'm battling like we're going to be ready for the playoffs," Wainwright said after allowing one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 8-2 win over Arizona on Tuesday.

The Cardinals' ace missed nearly three months with a severely sprained middle finger, but has gone 2-0 with a 2.07 ERA in three starts since returning from the disabled list.

"I don't know how we stayed in it without him, to be honest with you," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.

Wainwright (8-3, 2.97 ERA) will try to follow up a terrific performance from Todd Wellemeyer, who tossed eight solid innings in a 5-3 victory on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Marlins' playoff hopes are all but shattered. Florida trails the New York Mets by 7 1/2 games in the National League East. Josh Johnson gets the ball for the Marlins. Johnson (4-0, 3.25) allowed three runs and nine hits, but did not receive a decision in a 4-3 win over Atlanta on Monday.