ST. LOUIS -- Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland executed his pitches reasonably well on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, but he left his start with the Cardinals in front.

Maybe Freeland's six solid innings in a rebound from a poor start against the same club last week is a building block to something better -- and better he must be as the five-year, $64.5 million contract he signed this year continues. But future aspirations aren't enough to cover for the struggles that are happening now.

Even after giving up Tommy Edman's solo homer in the fourth and Paul Goldschmidt's two-run blast in the fifth, Freeland -- who pitched around seven hits and struck out four -- was more of a reason the Rox could have won instead of falling, 5-4, in the ninth.

But Freeland, as much as anyone, felt the pain of the offense not managing a hit after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, scoring just two runs in the inning. And when reliever Dinelson Lamet walked the first two batters in the ninth and couldn’t handle Dylan Carlson's bunt single to load the bases, it proved too much to overcome as Tyler O'Neill’s RBI hit-by-pitch handed the Cardinals a walk-off win.

Even while putting his effort into trying to make things better, Freeland couldn't help but feel things shouldn't be this way. 

"It's a tough pill to swallow," Freeland said. "With the stuff we did in the offseason -- signing [Kris Bryant] and making moves to progress this team, extending myself, extending Daniel Bard -- it shows the front office believes in the core of the team. But ultimately, it falls on our shoulders if we are going to win on a consistent basis." 

Aside from the homers on Tuesday, Freeland showed he has the potential to produce better than his 4.82 ERA.

In his previous start, Freeland gave up six runs on 10 hits across 4 1/3 innings in a 9-5 loss at Coors Field. A Nolan Arenado first-inning double was a harbinger of trouble. Freeland knew that Arenado, his former teammate, knew he wanted to pitch inside. But the pitch didn't go where Freeland wanted, and many pitches afterward yielded the same result.

It seemed like Tuesday’s tilt was headed in a similar direction, when the Cards loaded the bases in the first on two singles and a walk, before Freeland induced an inning-ending groundout from Edman to escape unscathed.

From there, though the hot-hitting Cardinals had their successes, Freeland left with just a one-run deficit.

"He knows how to bounce back," manager Bud Black said. "He knows the responsibility of being a starting pitcher -- a guy that has service time and is counted on by his teammates. It didn't surprise me at all that he pitched well."

The pitching staff has been met with some unpleasant surprises this season. Freeland has had to bounce back from bad outings too often. Germán Márquez has a 5.08 ERA. Antonio Senzatela's attempt to incorporate offspeed pitches to become a more complete pitcher was thrown off early by injuries. The rotation, admittedly, hasn't carried a heavy load.

But there is no use debating whether it's too late to put the team in contention or too early to take thoughts to next year’s goals. Every start must move toward regaining momentum, individually and collectively.

Freeland achieved a measure of that Tuesday, but he must continue. 

"It was execution," Freeland said. "I went back and looked at my start at Coors Field against [the Cardinals], and I was at the top of the zone with a lot of my arsenal. The key for me today was to get back to the bottom of the zone, execute in the bottom of the zone. It paid off, somewhat. 

"It's rough overall, but this situation that we're in, it sucks. You want to try to win every single game. When you look at the record and look at where we are in the standings [last in the NL West], it's a tough pill to swallow. Regardless, we are going to show up every single day to try to win a baseball game."