Cardinals Star Adam Wainwright Throws Awful Wild Pitch vs. Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright was a perennial Cy Young Award candidate for a good five-year stretch and will make $19.5 million this season.

You'd never know it, judging by a pitch he threw Tuesday night.

Facing Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta with runners on first and second in the top of the fourth inning, Wainwright threw one of the worst pitches in baseball history. Even 50 Cent—who isn't getting paid to throw baseballs for a living—probably had a chuckle.

While a pitch like that will certainly make blooper reels, Wainwright revealed after the game that he spiked the ball in order to protect catcher Yadier Molina, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"

I saw him shift outside and I was looking at a different part of the plate. When I saw that, instantly – and I saw it before – I thought he was looking for a breaking ball and I had fastball grip. I did not want to throw a ball and hit him in the collarbone or something and have Yadier out. I pull-hooked it and erred on the side of not hitting him – by 20, 30 yards.

"

If that's the case, it was smart on-the-fly thinking by the three-time All-Star. A cross-up like that could have been quite painful for Molina.

Wainwright managed to bounce back from the wild pitch and leave the runners stranded in scoring position by striking out the final two batters of the inning.

[SportsCenter]