The Cardinals suffered their first shutout loss of the 2026 season on Friday, falling 4-0 to the Tigers and superstar left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Here are three takeaways from the Cardinals’ first road game of the season after opening with a 4-2 homestand against the Rays and Mets:

Cardinals right-hander Michael McGreevy gave up some very hard contact in the early going, but his outfield defense was there to bail him out.

Tigers star Kevin McGonigle drove a 102.5 mph smash out to center in the first inning only to see speedster Victor Scott run it down at the warning track. Later in the first inning, Kerry Carpenter laced a 110.3 mph shot off the wall in right, but Jordan Walker was perfectly positioned and made a strong throw to second to limit the damage to just a single.

In the third inning, Gleyber Torres lifted a single into right and Javier Baez tested Walker’s throwing arm by trying to score from second base. Walker’s throwing arm – one that allowed him to record a team-most five outfield assists in 2025 – uncorked a 100.6 mph throw that nailed Baez at the plate to keep the game scoreless.

“He’s playing the game a little bit with more freedom. He made some good throws – with that ball off the wall early to keep them to a single and then throwing the guy out at the plate,” Marmol told Cardinals.TV. “Those are the types of things where you want him gaining confidence and carrying it to his overall game. He’s doing a good job, and I like the way he’s showing up every day and the mindset behind it.”   

In the sixth inning, Walker made another stellar defensive ply by stabbing a sinking liner to take away another potential hit.

Coming off a scoreless, six-inning outing where he didn’t surrender any hits in the second game of the 2026 season, McGreevy had nowhere to go but down on Friday in Detroit.

Too often, McGreevy regularly fell behind in counts and struggled to get the Tigers swinging at his sinker and change-up. McGreevy recorded just four ground-ball outs and left the game after just 4 1/3 innings of work.

Dillon Dingler followed a Riley Greene double with a two-run home run in the fourth. McGreevy left his sweeper thigh high and Dingler put it in the seats in right-center.

“McGreevy did a nice job, especially against that lineup and we knew it would be a good test for him because they have lot of lefties who miss in the air,” Marmol told Cardinals.TV. “I thought from a getting-ahead standpoint, he could have done a better job there. We needed him to navigate that tough lineup and got us deeper into that game.”

Of note, McGreevy continued to struggle finding his velocity in a second straight game. Of his 21 four-seam fastballs – three to righties and 18 to lefties – they averaged just 90.6 mph on the radar gun. However, none of the Tigers seven hits came off McGreevy’s fastball.

“He didn’t have the (velocity) last time out and didn’t give up a hit,” Marmol said. “Against a tough, lefty-heavy lineup today, we didn’t see the (velo) tick up much, but he was still able to navigate it and do a nice job.”

Winn, who escaped injury on Wednesday when he was involved in a one-car crash just a few miles from Busch Stadium, started and hit leadoff on Friday. Winn did have a hit in three plate appearances, but he left the game in the seventh inning. Marmol said the team was just being careful with Winn, who reported hip tightness on his left side.

“Yeah, Masyn is good,” the manager said. “We took him out (after) he felt something with some left hip tightness. Day game and early in the season and we didn’t want to push through it. I just talked to him actually, and he’s feeling a lot better. That’s why he came out of that game.

“We’ll see how he recovers throughout the rest of today and how he wakes up (on Saturday) and go from there.”

Much to the dismay of Cardinals fans, standout rookie JJ Wetherholt was out of the starting lineup on Friday with the left-handed Valdez starting for the Tigers. Wetherholt, who had a homer in his MLB debut and a walk-off winner in his second MLB game, pinch-hit late in the game and finished 0 for 2.

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