ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals co-ace Adam Wainwright is in position to lose his fourth consecutive start, a skid that has coincided with the Cardinals' struggles the past few weeks, ever since his ERA dropped to 1.99 and his wins reached 17 in his last start against the Cincinnati Reds.

Wainwright was removed from Saturday's game after throwing five innings and allowing five runs on seven hits. Three of the runs were unearned -- all of them scored after an error in the first inning. Wainwright walked one and struck out six.

The Reds lead, 5-1, through five innings.

Jason Motte is warming up to relieve Wainwright in the sixth. It will be Motte's first appearance in a game since returning from the disabled list earlier this week.

Wainwright eclipsed 200 innings for the second consecutive season, and now he has 200 1/3 innings thrown this summer. The Cardinals have taken a conservative approach with the righthander in recent weeks, buying him an extra day of rest when possible, and sometimes even massaging the rotation in a way that it scores an extra day of rest specifically for Wainwright. Due to off days and those machinations, Wainwright has thrown on the normal four days of rest only once in his previous four starts.

Saturday's start came after five days of rest.

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