The Cy Young Award may have slipped from Adam Wainwright's grasp Friday night during a puzzling, troubling seventh-inning sequence of events that silenced a stunned sellout crowd at Busch Stadium.

Other than Wainwright, no one will feel worse about this than Kyle McClellan, the reliever who couldn't hold the Brewers off to protect Wainwright's 20th victory.

Unless it's Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

McClellan entered after Wainwright, who allowed a run in the sixth, was sent back out to start the seventh. First mistake. There was no need to push it Friday, not after Wainwright had competed so ferociously in a 130-pitch outing at Colorado last Saturday in the division clincher.

Through six innings, Wainwright had thrown 83 pitches. That was enough. He's scheduled to start Game 2 of the NL Division Series on Thursday. The top priority should be keeping Wainwright as fresh as possible for the postseason. The second priority Friday was giving him a reasonable chance to win his 20th. Both goals were attained through six innings.

It probably would have helped to turn things over to the Cardinals bullpen with a five-run lead and the bases clean, but Wainwright gave up two singles before being pulled.

And McClellan entered a jam. Not only did McClellan allow the two inherited runners to score to make it 6-3, but the Brewers tied it up on him. Bye-bye 20th win. Then they took the lead. Four of the five batters faced by McClellan reached. It was like watching a horrific crash in slow motion; you could almost hear the fans pleading with La Russa to intervene. Too late.

When the seventh inning began, Wainwright had a 2.55 ERA and the 20th in hand. Or so we thought. By the time the inning ended, Wainwright had a 2.63 ERA (fourth in the NL) and a weakened grip on the Cy. It was an unfortunate and dramatic reversal of fortune. And you can't shake the feeling that it could have been prevented.

And why was catcher Yadier Molina — obviously in pain — kept in the game?

READING TIME, 3 MINUTES

Free Paul Kariya.

What an outstanding start for the Blues in Sweden, spotting the Detroit Red Wings a two-goal lead and then coming back to win 4-3 in a game that was hardly a neutral-ice engagement, given Detroit's popularity there. Kariya came out of the chute quickly, and his re-emergence is a potentially huge development for the Blues.

The Rams are on their way to San Francisco for what will probably be their 14th consecutive loss. On Friday, former Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce was a guest on my WXOS (101.1 FM) radio show. I asked Bruce, who is playing well for the 49ers, to give a message to Rams fans who are angry and frustrated with all of the losing. Bruce offered a message of hope.

"This is what I would say to the St. Louis fans: Be proud of your team. Support your team. Don't give up on your team," Bruce said. "Make sure that when the tide starts to turn you can honestly say that you were there for the St. Louis Rams…I was telling one of the current players on the Rams right now about how I stood right in the same (St. Louis) stadium, in the same situation, prepared to fight my best friend on the team, and I was just crying because of what was happening. I felt like (losing) would never end, but I told myself I wouldn't be crying tears of sorrow here much longer. I made sure my tears would mean something and they would become tears of joy. And it happened just like that. It went from 4-12 to Super Bowl champs. Even when we were getting our heads beat in I was proud to be a St. Louis Ram."

The ballot for the Missouri Athletic Club's 2009 Sports Personality of the Year Award will be released next week. The candidates are Mike Anderson, Ryan Franklin, T.J. Oshie, Keith Tkachuk and Adam Wainwright. (Past winners are not eligible.) The winner will be honored at the 40th annual Jack Buck Sports Awards Banquet in December at the MAC. ... Native St. Louisan Irvin Muchnick, who has written extensively on the dark side of professional wrestling, has a new book that's about to hit the book stores. Look for "Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death."

My friend Tom Cushman — the brilliant, longtime sports columnist for the Philadelphia News and San Diego Union Tribune, now happily retired from newspapers — has written a wonderful book on the Muhammad Ali era of boxing. "Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation" is published by Southeast Missouri State University Press. Cushman, a SEMO alum, draws on his extensive first-hand observations formed through many insightful years of covering Ali and others. Cushman will be signing the book today at the Barnes & Noble in West County Mall from 2 to 4 p.m.

What about an NHL "Winter Classic" for St. Louis? Here's Blues Chairman Dave Checketts: "We've let it be known that we'd like to play at Busch Stadium and I think there's a lot of people that would like to see us get it. If we get a good start (this season), I think people will come, and the better we do with our tickets at home, the better our chances to get a Winter Classic. Boston is going to have it at Fenway Park because right now the Bruins are a big story in Boston."

Congrats to the winners of the annual Keough Awards, which recognize soccer excellence by a St. Louisan. This year's winners: men's national team assistant coach Mike Sorber and professional women's player Rebecca Sauerbrunn. ... The St. Louis Tiger Club is hosting a Mizzou basketball luncheon with coach Mike Anderson on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Frontenac Hilton. Registration begins at 11:30; cost is $30. For reservations call John Koch at 314-520-2006.

THE NICE SECTION

The Sixth Annual "Fuzzball with the Fuzz" Benefit Tournament is Sunday, Oct. 11, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Woerner School, 6131 Leona in South St. Louis. Proceeds benefit the Missouri Friends of Injured Marines, which is dedicated to providing financial and medical support to wounded Marines. All of the spots for 32 teams have been sold and filled, but spectators are welcome to eat and drink and watch the games all day for a $20 donation. Also, please help the cause by bidding on a special, authenticated item auction on eBay. It's a Marines baseball jersey signed by Albert Pujols and Stan Musial. The auction ends at 10 p.m. on Oct. 11. If you have questions, e-mail Officer Brian P. Rossomanno at bprossomanno@slmpd.org.