Cardinals Settle for Series Win with Loss on Sunday

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Settle for Series Win as Dodgers Avoid Sweep at Busch Stadium
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

There was a time when taking two out of three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers would have felt like a clean weekend’s work, a reason for beat writers to pack up the laptops with a smile and head home satisfied.

That was not quite the feeling on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals had already won the series. They had already beaten the defending world champions twice. They had already stretched their winning streak to a season-high six games and given Cardinal Nation a pretty fair look at what this young club can be when the pitching, defense, and timely hitting all line up.

Still, after a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers, a noticeable sense of missed opportunity lingered in the clubhouse, the usual postgame chatter replaced by quiet reflection.

That, more than anything, probably says something about where this team is now.

The Cardinals entered Sunday with a chance to sweep Los Angeles and extend their hottest stretch of the season. Instead, the Dodgers struck first. Rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski, making just his third major league start, quieted St. Louis bats for six innings, mixing a sharp slider with a lively fastball. The Cardinals, who had thrived on clutch hits in the first two games, never found the big swing when they needed it most.

The loss snapped the Cardinals’ six-game winning streak and left them 6-4 through the first 10 games of their 17-games-in-17-days stretch. That is still winning baseball, but Sunday was a reminder that even a club on the rise does not get many free passes against a lineup like Los Angeles.

Dustin May, facing his former club, gave the Cardinals six competitive innings. The right-hander, returning from Tommy John surgery, showed flashes of his old form but was forced to pitch from behind after the Dodgers pushed across two runs in the second. Los Angeles tacked on another run in the fifth and one more in the eighth, while the Cardinals were held off the scoreboard until Alec Burleson’s line-drive double plated Jordan Walker in the eighth.

May allowed three runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out three over 90 pitches. He was not dominant, but he kept the Cardinals close enough for a late comeback. Just as important, he continued one of the weekend’s underappreciated themes: St. Louis’ defense kept turning trouble into outs, flashing quick hands and crisp throws across the infield.

The Cardinals induced three double plays behind May in the first four innings and turned another in the eighth—each greeted by a roar from the home crowd.

Over the final two games of the series, St. Louis turned eight double plays, including a highlight-reel 4-6-3 started by Nolan Gorman deep in the hole. That is not just clean defense; that is grown-up baseball, the kind that keeps a club in games even when the bats cool off.

Offensively, the Cardinals had chances but not enough finishing power.

They collected seven hits, five with two outs, but finished 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. One early threat fizzled in the second inning when Nathan Church was thrown out trying to steal second with runners on the corners and two outs—a close play that drew a brief argument from manager Oliver Marmol. Another opportunity slipped away in the fourth when Pedro Pagés lifted a fly ball to right, stranding two more.

The lone run came in the eighth when Walker walked, and Burleson doubled him home, continuing Burleson’s steady run-producing stretch. Burleson has now driven in at least one run in six straight games and leads the club with 28 RBIs through 33 games.

That is no small note. In a lineup still sorting through youth, roles, and long-term answers, Burleson has become one of the Cardinals’ most dependable run producers.

The Cardinals’ streak of hitting at least one home run ended at eight games. On a day when the ball carried well, the absence of the long ball was noticeable. Against a Dodgers club built to punish mistakes, St. Louis needed one crooked inning—and never found it.

Still, the weekend was not without a few meaningful statements.

Shohei Ohtani reached base twice Sunday—once on a walk, once after being hit by a pitch—but finished the series 0-for-12, the most at-bats he has ever had without a hit in a major league series. Just as notable, Cardinals pitchers did not allow a home run to the Dodgers all weekend, the first time St. Louis has held Los Angeles homerless in a series since 2014.

That is the kind of thing that can get lost inside one Sunday loss, but it should not be brushed aside. The Dodgers did not get loose this weekend. The Cardinals made them work.

Left-hander Jared Shuster allowed the final Los Angeles run in the eighth, giving the Dodgers some breathing room before St. Louis mounted its late push. But the story of the day was straightforward: the Cardinals pitched well enough to stay in the game and defended well enough to avoid a blowout, but simply did not hit enough to finish the sweep.

And that is baseball. Sometimes the sermon is short.

The Cardinals still won the series. They still took two of three from one of the best teams in the game. They still head into the Milwaukee series having won six of their last seven.

But Sunday showed the difference between being pleased with a series win and being satisfied.

This club did not look satisfied.

That may be the best sign of all.

Away from Busch Stadium, a couple of farm-system notes are worth tracking. At Triple-A Memphis, catcher Jimmy Crooks launched his 10th home run of the season Sunday, continuing his strong offensive start. At High-A Peoria, catching prospect Rainiel Rodriguez tallied three hits—including his third homer of the season—to raise his average to .306.

The Cardinals remain home Monday night to open a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Kyle Leahy is scheduled to get the start.

After that, St. Louis heads west for a four-game series in San Diego, where the television schedule will require a scorecard of its own: ESPN on Thursday, Apple TV on Friday, Fox on Saturday, and the Cardinals’ regular television network for Sunday’s day game.

For now, the Cardinals take the series, lose the finale, and move on.

That is the old baseball rhythm. Win the series. Learn from the loss.

Come back tomorrow.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports