MILWAUKEE -- The last time Dustin May stepped on the mound at American Family Field, his promising trajectory as a top prospect in the Dodgers’ organization was derailed on one pitch.
Visibly in pain after delivering a fastball in this park back in 2021, May was forced to exit and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. He pitched just 78 total innings in the three years that followed before returning full-time in 2025, where he was traded to Boston before signing with St. Louis over the offseason.
That brings us to Wednesday’s finale in Milwaukee, where May returned to the stadium that changed his baseball career for the first time since the injury.
His revenge was to make this place the best memory of his life.
May was oh so close to achieving just that, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in the Cardinals’ 2-1 loss in one of, if not the, most dominant starts in the 28-year-old’s professional career.
May was simply brilliant, setting down 15 straight batters after catcher’s interference allowed Sal Frelick to reach base in the third inning. The only other Brewer to stand on first base before the eighth was when May hit Jake Bauers on the foot in the second inning with a breaking ball.
It was dominant stuff, but Garrett Mitchell got a hold of a cutter in the middle of the plate to lead off the eighth and smoked it to left-center field to the tune of a 107.9 mph exit velocity, sailing just above the outstretched glove of left fielder Bryan Torres for Milwaukee's first hit. Luis Rengifo followed with a perfectly placed bunt towards the third-base line, putting runners on first and third with nobody out to chase May from the game.
From there, Christian Yelich tied the game with a two-out single before Masyn Winn, who made an incredible sliding play to keep the no-hitter alive at the end of the fifth inning, fumbled a groundball from Jackson Chourio, allowing the game-winning run to come home.
May was close, but the Cardinals’ 10th no-hitter in franchise history will have to wait. The club’s most recent no-no was from 21-year-old rookie Bud Smith on Sept. 3, 2001, when he went the distance against the Padres in the only complete game of his career.