Cardinals' Adam Wainwright: Looks sharp in latest rehab start

Wainwright (groin) covered 5.2 innings and gave up four earned runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out nine Sunday in his rehab start for Triple-A Memphis.

Though he surrendered a three-run home run in the second inning that dinged his final line, Wainwright otherwise looked much sharper in his third rehab outing after he struck out only four batters in 7.1 innings across his first two starts at Double-A Springfield. He finished the day with 89 pitches, spotting 61 of them for strikes. With Wainwright now fully stretched out and faring well in a rehab start, he looks poised to return from the 15-day injured list to make his season debut with the Cardinals during this upcoming weekend's series with the Tigers. Expect either Jake Woodford or Steven Matz to move to the bullpen to open up a rotation spot for Wainwright.