ST. LOUIS -- When the Cardinals limped out of Atlanta’s Truist Park back on April 23, they sat at a 2025-worst five games below .500 and their season felt perilously in trouble before even reaching May. However, the way they responded to that low moment -- by going 16-6 and undefeated in their next seven series -- set their season on a dramatically different trajectory.
It’s a lesson learned and a performance the Cardinals hope to repeat after dropping the final two games of their series against the Tigers and losing their first series in nearly a month.
On the heels of their promising rally against American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal before falling late on Tuesday night, the Cards mustered little offense against six Tigers relievers and lost, 5-1, to Detroit at Busch Stadium. St. Louis throttled Detroit with 11 runs and 16 hits in Monday’s opener, but it dropped the final two games to lose its first series at Busch Stadium since a three-game set against the Angels from March 31-April 2.
“I think we can compete with the best of them,” said Andre Pallante, who surrendered three earned runs, four hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. “When you’re young and you’re not sure about facing some teams or guys with a big stigma or aura around them, once you beat Goliath, as you might say, then you can have more faith in yourself, and you can play more free and confident.
“Winning all these series has been great for us. We have a day off [Thursday] so we can refresh, and then we’ll get after it against the Diamondbacks. That’s a pretty good team, but we’ll be confident, and we want to take that series off them.”
Though they certainly didn’t look like a team worthy of contending for a playoff spot after their first 25 games, things have come together nicely for the Cardinals over the past month. In May specifically, St. Louis has looked like a team capable of taking down any foe. The club's 13 wins in May are tied for the second most in MLB with the Phillies, who played later on Wednesday. Philadelphia is a perennial contender that St. Louis has gone 4-2 against. Only the Tigers (14) and Twins (14) have more May wins than the Cards.
Alec Burleson (.357 average, four homers, 10 RBIs) has started driving the ball significantly better in May, while Willson Contreras brushed aside a slow start to the season with 19 games this month that have seen him produce a .299 average, three homers and 16 RBIs. The return of catcher/designated hitter Iván Herrera (.436 average, 10 RBIs) lengthened a Cardinals lineup that ranks third in MLB in batting average (.263), sixth in on-base percentage (.334) and is tied for fourth in doubles (34) and fifth in runs (94) since May 1.
Equally impressive, the Cardinals' pitching staff put things together over the past three weeks to make the turnaround possible. Miles Mikolas (2-0, 2.20 ERA), Erick Fedde (2-0, 2.55 ERA), Matthew Liberatore (1-1, 2.53 ERA) and Sonny Gray (2-1, 4.71) have worked deeper into games, keeping relievers Ryan Helsley (5-for-5 in save opportunities, 1.50 ERA) and Kyle Leahy (1-1, 0.93 ERA) fresh during the May revival.
“I’ll continue to go back to the work that’s been put in, and that’s the key to all of this,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “I really like where our guys are in this process of development, and how they are approaching their days, their overall mindsets and the intentionality to their work. That’s been the key to all of this. That’s why I do believe this is sustainable, because of the way they’re going about it. They’re going to continue to grow and continue to execute at a higher level. So, we’re in a really good spot.”
The Cards have been in good spots even against some of the best teams in baseball of late. They jump-started a nine-game winning streak by sweeping a doubleheader from the Mets on May 4, giving them a series victory over a New York squad that swept them in lopsided fashion during their early April doldrums.
During their seven-series unbeaten streak, the Cards captured series wins against the rival Brewers, Mets, Pirates, Nats, Phillies and Royals, while splitting with the Reds. Add those to earlier series wins over the Twins, Astros and Phillies and the Cardinals have shown they can match up against some of MLB’s squads – even if the 33-17 Tigers stormed out of Busch Stadium with a series victory.
“That just says that we can compete against anybody, and this team can be rolled out and we’ll perform,” said speedy center fielder Victor Scott II, who had a sixth-inning single and scored the Cards lone run on Wednesday. “It’s definitely encouraging with what we’ve done.”