Dustin May, who walked four and hit another batter, struggled for a fourth time since throwing a one-hit gem against the Padres on June 15. The Cards got the game tied, but lost when Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn threw wildly in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Braves.
A ninth inning throwing error by Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn – one that followed a controversial hit-by-pitch ruling – allowed Atlanta to escape Busch Stadium with a 4-3 win and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cardinals.
Manager Oliver Marmol was ejected for the 23rd time in his career – but just the second time this season – when the game quickly unraveled with two outs in the ninth. Down 0-2 in the count, Michael Harris II was grazed on the forearm by a JoJo Romero pitch. Marmol challenged the hit by pitch call, and the call was confirmed following replay. An irked Marmol argued that home plate umpire Adam Beck only made the call after Harris lobbied for it, and he was ejected to start his All-Star break early.
From there, Mauricio Dubon hit a slow roller to shortstop and Winn fired high to first while rushing his throw. That allowed Ozzie Albies to score after he had doubled off Romero earlier in the inning.
It was a frustrating finish to a stirring first half of the season for the Cardinals, who won the first two games of the series against the Braves and took four of six from Atlanta on the season. They mustered just four hits, committed two errors, walked six Atlanta batters and saw starter Dustin May struggle again. The loss left the Cardinals one game back of the Marlins for the NL’s final Wild Card slot in what was thought to be a rebuilding season.
"The thing that continues to come to mind is what is being built from a culture standpoint," Marmol told reporters. "(The culture) has been as strong as ever and we're just getting started with we want that to look like. Our guys are really buying into what this needs to look like from coming together and competing. We have the mindset needed to be resilient and relentless and not allow one day to leak into the next. They've done a really nice job of that."
May's effectiveness elusive again in poor outing
May’s final outing before the break for the MLB All-Star Game was certainly a forgettable one. On a day when the Cardinals needed length from their starter, May made it through just four innings while throwing 84 pitches.
After walking one in the first inning, he put the first two on with free passes to begin the second inning. After walking Drake Baldwin to load the bases, May bounced a sweeper that got past catcher Jimmy Crooks for a wild pitch that allowed Dominic Smith to score easily from third and tie the game at 1.
May seemed to find his groove in a short third inning where he struck out two, However, he found trouble again in the fourth inning when he hit Austin Riley and saw him score on a Baldwin single to right field. Initially, Riley was called out after Walker fired a strike to the plate for what would have been his ninth outfield assist. However, video replay showed that Riley got his hand to the plate just before Crooks’ tag to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead.
In the four outings since May pitched the game of his life on June 15 – a one-hit, complete-game shutout of the Padres – he has failed to land a win or even go deep into games. He’s pitched just 11 1/3 innings in his last four starts and has allowed 17 hits and 13 earned runs (10.35 ERA).
After Atlanta reached Justin Bruihl for a run in the sixth, the Cardinals got the game tied at 3 in dramatic fashion. Jose Fermin drilled a two-strike, two-out hit into right-center to score Walker and Lars Nootbaar for yet another clutch hit for the Cardinals’ standout utility fielder. Ten of his 20 RBI this season have come with two outs.
"He just takes a professional at bat -- it doesn't matter righty or lefty and he's going to make a lot of contact and make it tough on the opposition," Marmol said. "He did exactly that and that was a big swing."
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