The 10-day stretch that might ultimately define the 2026 season for the Cardinals was bookended by diametrically different 7-0 scores – and neither of them turned out pleasantly for a reeling ball club that hasn’t been able to get much steady pitching or consistent hitting of late.

Back on July 19, the Cardinals pounced on the Dbacks to the tune of a 7-0 lead through just three innings and they seemed poised to win their first series out of the break for the MLB All-Star Game. Inning by inning, that lead systematically disappeared and by the 10th inning it was totally gone in an 8-7 loss.

As it turned out, that loss proved to be a crippling one that sent the Cardinals careening.

Fast forward to Tuesday night – with six losses sprinkled in between – and this time the Cardinals found themselves on the wrong end of a 7-0 score after usually dependable starter Michael McGreevy was throttled for eight hits, seven earned runs and two walks after retiring just five hitters. There would be no comeback this time around and the Cardinals fell 10-2 to the rival Cubs in another loss that had to leave them wondering if their season is salvageable at this point.

From the time the Cards led the Dbacks 7-0 on July 19 to Tuesday’s 7-0 deficit at the hands of the Cubs, St. Louis got outscored 49-25.

When the Cardinals trudged off the field at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night, they did so with a losing record for the first time this season. They were 2-2, 4-4, 5-5 and 8-8 early in the season, but never in possession of a losing mark. At 53-54 and losers nine of their last 12 games, the Cards feel miles away from the club that surged to as many as nine games over .500 twice earlier this season (27-18 on May 16 and 37-28 on June 10).

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The red-hot Cubs made McGreevy throw 32 pitches in the first inning, and in some ways the Cards were fortunate to get out of the first frame trailing just 2-0. The backbreaker in that first was an 11-pitch at bat to long-time Cards killer, Ian Happ, who fouled off five pitches before drilling a middle-middle sinker into right and just out of the reach of Jordan Walker for a double that plated two runs.

Seven of the first eight Cubs that came to the plate in the second inning reached against McGreevy, who mixed his pitches, but just didn’t have enough firepower to put away a Cubs team that fouled off 13 pitches against him to keep at bats alive.

Pete Crow-Armstrong plated a run with a sac fly, Seiya Suzuki doubled in a run, Michael Busch singled in a run and Nico Hoerner singled in two more runs to chase McGreevy in his worst outing of 2026. He came into the night having pitched at least six innings in eight of his last nine outings, but that was never a possibility on a night when the Cubs kept the pressure on throughout his 1 2/3 innings of work.

The second straight loss to the Cubs ran counter to how well the Cardinals had played against their rivals to the north this season. The Cards took two of three at Busch Stadium in late May/early June and then won the three-game series at Wrigley Field in early July, including one whitewashing by a score of 17-1.

The Cubs, 7-3 winners on Monday, had 17 more hits on Tuesday and 31 in two games against the Cards.

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