Wainwright fired four scoreless innings in a 9-3 Grapefruit League loss to the Astros on Saturday, allowing two hits and one walk. He struck out four.

EDGE Analysis

The veteran's performance, which saw him reunite with battery mate Yadier Molina in the latter's first game behind the dish this spring, was one of the bright spots of the day for the Cardinals. Glenn Sattell of MLB.com reports that Wainwright's fastball consistently resided in the high 80s on the radar gun during the outing, but in a nod to his ongoing work with his splitter, he notably retired former teammate Aledmys Diaz on a 69 mph version of the breaking pitch. "I probably threw about 10 of them," Wainwright said. "I got an out, got a couple swings and misses. Got foul offs. If I missed, I missed down with good action. So I think it's a pitch I'm going to use a lot."