Cardinals Look to Salvage Finale in Kansas City Behind Dustin May

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Look to Salvage Finale in Kansas City Behind Dustin May
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals have reached the point in the I-70 Series where style no longer matters.

Just win one.

After dropping the first two games of the three-game set to the Kansas City Royals, the Cardinals return to Kauffman Stadium on Sunday afternoon looking to avoid a sweep and salvage the finale before heading back to Busch Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT. The game will be carried on Cardinals.TV and Royals.TV, with radio coverage on KMOX.

St. Louis enters the finale at 40-34 after a frustrating start to the series. The Cardinals were beaten 14-6 in Thursday’s opener, then came up short again Friday night in a 6-5 loss that turned a bad road stop into a series already lost before the off day.

Now the assignment is simple: stop the skid, get a quality start, and leave Kansas City with something better than three straight losses.

The Cardinals will turn to right-hander Dustin May, who enters at 5-6 with a 3.75 ERA and 75 strikeouts. Kansas City counters with right-hander Stephen Kolek, who comes in at 4-1 with a 2.68 ERA and 34 strikeouts.

For St. Louis, May is exactly the kind of pitcher they want on the mound in this spot.

His last start was one of the best pitching performances of the Cardinals’ season, a one-hit complete-game shutout against the San Diego Padres. May carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, struck out nine, walked one and gave St. Louis the kind of dominant outing that reminded everyone why his value to this club goes beyond trade-rumor talk.

Now the Cardinals need him to be the stopper.

That does not mean he has to throw another complete game. Those are rare enough these days that they ought to come with a museum plaque and a security guard. But the Cardinals do need length. They need strikes. They need May to keep Kansas City from stacking big innings the way the Royals have done through the first two games of the series.

The Cardinals’ pitching staff has been hit hard in Kansas City. The Royals scored 14 runs in the opener, then followed with six more Friday night. That is 20 runs allowed in two games, and no team trying to hold its place in the National League playoff race can keep absorbing that kind of damage.

The frustration Friday was that the Cardinals gave themselves a chance late.

Kansas City got a strong return from Seth Lugo, who allowed just one earned run over six innings in his first start back after being struck by a line drive earlier this month. The Royals built enough of a cushion to hold on, but St. Louis made noise in the ninth when Blaze Jordan delivered a two-run single as part of a three-run rally.

The rally was encouraging. The result was not.

That has been the story of too many recent games for the Cardinals. They have shown fight, but they have not played clean enough baseball to finish the job. Against Kansas City, the Cardinals have been chasing the game instead of controlling it.

Sunday is about changing that immediately.

The offense has to help May early. Kolek has been effective for Kansas City, and the Cardinals cannot afford to let another Royals starter settle into a comfortable rhythm. St. Louis needs better at-bats in run-scoring situations, more pressure at the top of the order, and cleaner execution once men get on base.

Blaze Jordan’s ninth-inning swing Friday should keep him in the conversation as one of the more important bats to watch Sunday. The rookie has brought life to the lineup since arriving, and his ability to impact a game with runners on base gives the Cardinals another right-handed threat in a lineup that has needed more punch.

JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker and Iván Herrera also remain central to the Cardinals’ offensive response. When St. Louis is at its best, it does not rely on one swing or one inning. It grinds pitchers down, runs the bases with purpose and forces opponents to make plays.

That version of the Cardinals needs to show up Sunday.

Kansas City, meanwhile, enters the finale with momentum but also with uncertainty surrounding Bobby Witt Jr. The Royals’ star shortstop missed Friday’s game with a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee after being injured Thursday night. Kansas City is hopeful he can avoid an injured list stint, and his status for Sunday remains one of the biggest questions of the finale.

If Witt plays, he changes the game. If he does not, the Royals still have enough to make St. Louis pay for mistakes.

Tyler Tolbert stepped in at shortstop Friday and helped Kansas City both offensively and defensively. Jac Caglianone homered and drove in two runs. Isaac Collins added two doubles and two RBIs. Salvador Perez remains a veteran presence capable of changing a game with one swing.

The Cardinals cannot afford to look at Kansas City’s record and assume anything. The Royals have already won the series. They have already shown they can score. They have already taken advantage of Cardinals mistakes.

Now St. Louis has to answer.

There is no need to make Sunday bigger than it is, but there is also no need to pretend it does not matter. The Cardinals are still in the National League Wild Card race, but losing streaks have a way of turning from small potholes into axle-busters if they are not stopped quickly.

This is not about panic.

It is about professional response.

The Cardinals need May to set the tone, the offense to stop wasting chances, and the defense to play clean behind him. They need to avoid the crooked inning, stay away from free passes, and make Kansas City earn everything.

Good teams do not always win every series. Baseball is too long and too strange for that. But good teams do find ways to stop the bleeding before a bad road trip becomes a bigger problem.

Sunday gives the Cardinals that chance.

Game Information

St. Louis Cardinals at Kansas City Royals
Sunday, June 21, 2026
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. CT
Location: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
TV: Cardinals.TV, Royals.TV
Radio: KMOX

Probable Pitchers

St. Louis Cardinals
RHP Dustin May
5-6, 3.75 ERA, 75 SO

Kansas City Royals
RHP Stephen Kolek
4-1, 2.68 ERA, 34 SO

What to Watch

Dustin May as the Stopper
May is coming off a one-hit complete-game shutout against San Diego. The Cardinals do not need another historic outing, but they do need him to give them length and control the game early.

The Cardinals’ Early Offense
St. Louis cannot wait until the ninth inning to start applying pressure. The Cardinals need better early at-bats against Kolek and must cash in when runners reach base.

Blaze Jordan’s Continued Impact
Jordan’s two-run single in Friday’s ninth gave the Cardinals a late spark. His right-handed bat remains one of the more interesting pieces in the lineup.

Bobby Witt Jr.’s Status
Witt’s knee injury remains a key storyline. If he plays, Kansas City’s lineup looks different. If he sits again, the Cardinals still have to handle a Royals club that has already won the series.

Avoiding the Sweep
The Cardinals cannot win the series anymore, but they can still salvage the finale. That matters before returning home.

The Bottom Line

The Cardinals have already lost the series. There is no dressing that up.

But Sunday still matters.

A win would stop the losing streak, give St. Louis a cleaner exit from Kansas City, and keep one rough series from becoming a larger concern. With Dustin May on the mound, the Cardinals have the right arm in the right spot.

Now they need to play like it.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

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Photo Credit: Dustin May, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB

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