ST. LOUIS -- Plugged into the leadoff spot in the lineup with the hope of sparking a trudging offense, Tommy Edman delivered.

Edman, who has hit .421 (8-for-19) since making his Major League debut on June 8, was 2-for-4 in the Cardinals’ 2-0 loss to the A’s on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. His offense wasn't enough to back a stellar start from Adam Wainwright, who allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts.

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The eight Cardinals behind Edman were responsible for three other hits -- singles from Dexter Fowler and Paul Goldschmidt, and a double from Marcell Ozuna -- as the A’s handed St. Louis its third straight loss.

Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch said before the game that lineup changes are necessary to get a team out of an offensive slump, which was part of the reason Edman got the start Wednesday in the place of Matt Carpenter.

“You don’t want to keep running out the same thing and hoping it magically gets better,” Girsch said. “At the same time, I don’t think that you can suddenly say if we thought this player was the best guy to play this position or bat this spot in the order yesterday or the month before or two months ago, at what point do you change that?

“There has to be some real evidence that things have changed before you bail on it. Obviously, we’ve got a half a season of evidence that our offense is struggling.”

The Cardinals rank 10th in the National League in runs scored (358) and batting average (.244), and 13th in slugging percentage (.402).

With two games to go until the official halfway mark of the season, the Cardinals sit at 40-39 -- but only 2 1/2 games back of the first-place Cubs in the National League Central.

Before Wednesday’s game, manager Mike Shildt acknowledged the flaws that St. Louis has shown in the first half of the season. He also defended the Cardinals.

“Would we like to string it together with our starting pitching a little more consistently? Yes,” Shildt said.

“Would we like to score more runs and that be the difference maker? Absolutely. We’re not going to put our heads in the sand that we need to score more runs, but I’m not going to sit here that this is a team that’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s wrong with this team?’

Shildt -- after being asked about the Blues going from last place to first place and winning the Stanley Cup this year -- defended the Cardinals’ performance so far this season. He said he was questioned for all of the negative things his team was doing, while the positive aspects of the game were going unnoticed.

“I didn’t feel like there was enough credit for this team when we were the best team in baseball [at the beginning of the season],” Shildt said. “Candidly, it feels like when we hit a stretch, it’s like, ‘Man, here we go.’ I just don’t understand the mentality. Look, we’re two-and-a-half games out of first place, and I swear it feels like we’re walking around and we haven’t done a thing right.”

Among the positives, Shildt pointed out baserunning and defense.

St. Louis leads the National League with 55 stolen bases and ranks second in stolen base percentage at 83.3 percent. The Cardinals have 38 errors this year -- third-fewest in the league behind Arizona and Cinicinnati.

“Somebody said the other day that this team is boring, and I was like, ‘What do you want?’” Shildt said. “I saw Ozzie [Smith] the other day. Maybe we can get him to do a back flip.

“We lead this league in stolen bases. We hit and run, we play the game the way people want. Whitey ball. Our ball. Smart ball. Look, the season is not over. Give us a chance to win the World Championship. There’s a process to get there. Then again, we welcome it. Patience is thin. I get it.”

Wainwright, after making his 300th career start, said there’s importance in optimism, but reality also needs to set in, too.

“At the same time, you want to have urgency,” Wainwright said. “There’s a fine line there. We’re rooting for [an offensive breakthrough] to happen soon, but we know it’s going to happen.””

Shildt held himself and the team accountable for not scoring enough runs and not having enough starting pitching -- Wainwright's quality start aside -- especially in an organization that has missed the playoffs the last three years. But he wanted to defend the team’s work ethic and style of play, which is why he took the opportunity to do so before the game.

“There’s a psyche that permeates,” Shildt said. “Credit ultimately is earned. … I’m honest with the fact that we need to score more runs. I’m honest with the fact that our starting pitching needs to be better. I’m also honest with the fact that we do a lot of things well.”

He added: “We admit our weaknesses, we admit our flaws, we work like crazy. As the mouthpiece for our team, I can say that every player here is laying it out there, they’re preparing, they’re intentional, and they want desperately to provide what everyone else wants. And that’s that trophy.”