Adam Wainwright will likely miss a start after exiting Sunday night's 5-1 loss to the Cubs after 4 1/3 innings with left hamstring tightness.
Wainwright's hamstring locked up while running the bases and sliding for a double in the top of the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. He'll go back to St. Louis on Monday to be evaluated and figure out the next steps while the team travels to Miami for a series with the Marlins.
"Just out of the box, third step probably," Wainwright said. "I knew that I needed to be on second there. It's a stand-up double, usually. Rounding the bag, I just timed it right that I didn't have to push it too hard."
Wainwright went back to the mound for the bottom of the fifth and gave up two singles and a double as the Cubs took a 3-1 lead.
Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux went to the mound to talk to Wainwright, and manager Mike Shildt came out with a trainer. Right-hander Giovanny Gallegos was given as much time as he needed to warm up.
Wainwright, 37, was still locating his pitches, but his breaking ball and fastball didn't have as much life to them without a better explosion off his left leg.
"He went out and was able to execute his pitches early on," Shildt said. "That inning I'm specifically talking about. He was doing it the whole game, he was masterful. Then he got a few pitches he couldn't quite finish. [The Cubs] didn't miss them, and we evaluated and we made a change."
Coming off a 126-pitch, eight-inning outing against the Cubs on June 2, Wainwright allowed seven hits and three runs Sunday. He struck out two and walked one on 70 pitches (44 strikes).
He felt like he was going to throw nine innings Sunday night, until the hamstring tightened.
"I really felt like I had a chance to do that," Wainwright said. "Unfortunately, I got injured. It changed the whole complex of the game. We needed me to go deep into that game. That was part of the reason why I tried to make that happen in the fifth."
