Padres blanked in 1-hit, complete game by Cardinals' Dustin May

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jun 15, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — The San Diego Padres left Baltimore on Sunday having won a second consecutive game for the first time in three weeks and a second consecutive series for the first time in nearly two months.

On Monday, they ran into the truth coined by one of Baltimore’s greatest sports figures.

It was the late Orioles manager Earl Weaver who said first what has become one of baseball’s most-accurate adages — that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.

Dustin May was that pitcher on Monday for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he obliterated for at least a night whatever forward progress the Padres’ offense had made over the previous 10 days or so.

The red-headed right-hander shut them out for nine innings in the Cardinals’ 3-0 victory at Busch Stadium.

As the crowd stood and cheered, May struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. and took a few quick steps off the mound and screamed.

It was Tatis who had wrecked May’s perfect game two innings earlier by drawing a walk. A single by Manny Machado two batters later would be the Padres’ only hit.

May’s first career complete game was the sixth shutout thrown by a major league pitcher this season.

For six innings, May threatened to become the first Cardinals pitcher to be perfect.

The crowd at Busch Stadium gave May a brief ovation after he sailed a 97 mph fastball well above the zone to walk Fernando Tatis Jr. at the start of the seventh inning.

Cardinals shortstop Masyn Wynn made a diving stop on a hard ground ball and threw out Jackson Merrill. And then a longer ovation serenaded May, and most in the crowd stood when Machado’s ground ball split the fielders on the left side and bounced into left field.

The cheers were almost as loud after Gavin Sheets grounded the next pitch directly at Winn, who fielded the ball, stepped on second base and threw to first base to end May’s seventh scoreless inning.

May struck out the side in the eighth, got two quick outs to start the ninth before fanning Tatis.

The Cardinals scored all their runs off Lucas Giolito.

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