"Adam Wainwright has pitched like an All-Star for the past two years. On Sunday, he became one.

A few hours before he took the mound at Busch Stadium to pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers, Wainwright was told by manager Tony La Russa that he was one of five Cardinals selected for the July 13 game in Anaheim, Calif.

It is the first time since he was pitching in Double A in 2003 that Wainwright has been named an All-Star, an honor he had to block out of his mind until after his day's work was complete. Shortly before 4 p.m., he had more reasons to celebrate.

Continuing his dominance at home, Wainwright pitched and hit the Cardinals to a 7-1 victory over the Brewers that improved his overall record to 12-5, the first Cardinal to win 12 or more games before the All-Star break since Chris Carpenter was 13-4 en route to a Cy Young award in 2005.

Wainwright improved his record at Busch Stadium to 9-0, with a 1.43 ERA, and extended his own major-league record by recording his 24th consecutive quality start at home.

None of that came as a surprise to his manager.

"I don't think anybody was more excited than Adam," La Russa said of the individual player reactions to the news they had been named an All-Star. "It's a really big deal. I didn't want to make too big a fuss because he was today's starting pitcher but it's a meaningful thing to make an All-Star team.

"It just shows his powers of concentration. He is able to put distractions aside. It could have been very distracting. It's a big day. But he had a job to do and he zeroed in."

Wainwright allowed only five hits in pitching his fourth complete game of the season and seventh of his career. He struck out nine and did not walk a batter as he needed only 99 pitches, 69 strikes, to dispatch a Milwaukee team which had scorched the Cardinals for 19 hits on Saturday night.

The Brewers' lone run came on a solo homer by Corey Hart, his 19th of the season, leading off the fourth inning. Ironically, Hart was named to the NL All-Star team on Sunday as well – Hart was on that same Southern League All-Star squad with Wainwright seven years ago.

"He throws four pitches and he throws all four for strikes," said Hart, who hit his second career homer off Wainwright. "You just kind of swing and hope."

The homer came a half inning after Wainwright broke the game open with a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the third inning, capping a five-run inning for the Cardinals – the most runs they had scored in an inning since May 31."