Monday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Padres 0
By Rob Rains
Dustin May joined a select group of Cardinals pitchers on Monday night, throwing only the fourth one-hitter in franchise history at Busch Stadium 3.
May, who lost a no-hit bid in the eighth inning on May 27 in Milwaukee, retired the first 18 batters he faced before walking Fernando Tatis Jr. on a 3-2 pitch to begin the seventh inning.
Manny Machado ended May’s no-hit bid two batters later when he singled between shortstop and third, but May went back to work to finish off his first career shutout, getting the game’s final out on his 101st pitch.
It was the first time this season a Cardinals starter had recorded an out in the eighth inning, when he struck out the side for the second time in the game, tying his season-high with nine strikeouts.
May benefited from several outstanding defensive plays, including Lars Nootbaar catching a low line drive in left field in the fifth inning and two plays by shortstop Masyn Winn in the seventh, one of which started a double play.
The last pitcher to throw a one-hit shutout for the Cardinals at home was Jaime Garcia, more than 10 years ago, on April 14, 2016 against Milwaukee. The only other pitchers to have a similar game was Adam Wainwright on May 20, 2014 against Arizona and Shelby Miller on May 16, 2013 against Colorado.
The last Cardinals pitcher to throw a no-hitter in St. Louis was Bob Forsch in 1983.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals gave May all of the runs he would need in the fourth inning. With two outs, Nootbaar and Winn singled and then both scored on a double by Jimmy Crooks … Alec Burleson extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games with a double in the fifth, which drove in Ivan Herrera, who had walked with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch … The doubles by Crooks and Burleson were the only hits for the Cardinals in 10 at-bats with a runner in scoring position … Jordan Walker had two more hits, raising his average to .297 … This was the first time in 12 games the Cardinals failed to score at least four runs.
On the mound: The Padres only hit four balls to the outfield in the first six innings off May, who also struck out the side in the sixth inning … May was at 93 pitches going into the ninth inning, barely missing a “Maddux” of throwing a shutout on less than 100 pitches.
Key stat: Starting with that May 27 game in Milwaukee, over his last four starts May has allowed only four earned runs over 27 2/3 innings, an ERA of 1.30. He has given up 12 hits, walked four and struck out 33. He worked six scoreless innings in his previous start on June 9 against the Mets, giving him a current 15-inning scoreless streak.
Worth noting: This was the second shutout for Crooks in only seven starts behind the plate this season. He also caught a combined shutout started by May against the Mets on June 9 in New York … There were no ABS challenges in the game. Laz Diaz was the home plate umpire … The Padres are without closer Mason Miller for this series. He was placed on the bereavement/family medical leave list before the game … Ryan Fernandez hopes to begin a rehab assignment to Memphis by the end of the week.
Up next: Andre Pallante will get the start on Tuesday night in the second game of the series.
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