ST. LOUIS — With an eye on Tuesday’s doubleheader and the need to cover innings with five games in four days, the Cardinals got the efficiency they hoped for starter Dustin May and a lead to go with it on Monday night vs. the Brewers.

May was to be kept to a pitch count of 65-75 in his first game since taking a comebacker off his ankle Thursday in Atlanta. He provided 4 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven batters on 81 pitches.

The sharp work and help from Justin Bruihl to strand runners on base to end the fifth inning kept the lead intact for the Cardinals.

That lead, however, vanished in a seventh inning that started with an infield single.

Holding a 3-0 lead, built on RBIs from Nelson Velazquez, Jose Fermin and Masyn Winn, the Cardinals allowed the Brewers to score four runs in the seventh inning. The big inning erased the Cardinals’ lead and left them with a 4-3 loss at Busch Stadium.

What began with an infield single Bruihl allowed to Garrett Mitchell tumbled into an inning that included a two-run double Ryan Fernandez allowed to David Hamilton and a two-run single from Brice Turang off Ryne Stanek that catapulted Milwaukee to a lead.

In that inning, Bruihl left with a right ankle sprain after trying to make a play on Mitchell’s slow roller. Bruihl coaxed a soft grounder out of Mitchell that rolled toward third base. Bruihl sprinted to field the ball and attempted to make a jump throw but appeared to be in discomfort after the attempt. He was visited by a team trainer and exited the game.

Able to push across three runs in six innings off Brewers starter Shane Drohan, the Cardinals collected one hit and did not draw a walk against relievers Chad Patrick and Trevor Megill.

The lone hit they collected in the final three innings was Winn’s single to lead off the ninth. The Cardinals called on Alec Burleson and Bryan Torres to pinch hit with the game-tying run on base.

Neither could advance Winn.

Brewers break out for four

A combination of soft contact and sharp extra-base hits sunk the Cardinals in a seventh inning that flipped Monday’s series opener. The string of hits that began with Mitchell’s infield single included a pair of doubles and a sharp single that erased the lead built by RBIs from Velazquez, Fermin and Winn.

After Mitchell singled off Bruihl, Fernandez allowed runners to reach scoring position by giving up a double to Sal Frelick and allowing the bases to load with his fielding error on a grounder Cooper Pratt tapped in front of home plate.

The Brewers capitalized on the bases-loaded chance created by Fernandez’s fielding error eight pitches later. David Hamilton hammered a 3-2 fastball Fernandez left over the middle of the plate to score two runs.

With Fernandez unable to secure outs and the Cardinals leading by a run, manager Oli Marmol turned to Stanek with Christian Yelich due up.

Stanek could not command his fastball and splitter, leading to a walk of Yelich that loaded the bases. A force out at home on a Jackson Chourio grounder kept them loaded. Turang’s single in the at-bat after that brought two Brewers in to score.

Taking a two-run lead

Having created a chance to hit with the bases loaded and out, the Cardinals pushed across two runs in the third inning. The first came on a ball that did not leave the infield. The other was via a ball that just left it.

Pedro Pages kicked off the inning with a sharp hit single to center field and reached second base on a fielding error by Brice Turang that also allowed JJ Wetherholt to reach base. And two batters later, a walk by Jordan Walker loaded the bases for Velazquez.

Velazquez took an aggressive approach into his second at-bat vs. Drohan. He chased and whiffed at a curveball the left-hander dropped below the strike zone and offered at the next pitch he saw, a cutter thrown low-and-in.

Velazquez pulled the cutter to third base for what looked like it could lead to an inning-ending double play. Instead, Velazquez raced to first base ahead of Turang’s throw to keep the inning alive and allow Pages to score.

In the at-bat that followed, Fermin saw seven pitches from Drohan. Two of the seven pitches included back-to-back 1-2 pitches he fouled that preceded a 1-2 changeup Fermin got enough of his bat on to flare a single to center field for the Cardinals’ second run.

May wiggles out of 2nd

Following a 1-2-3 first inning, May’s second inning became stressful due to an error by center fielder Nathan Church that allowed runners to reach second and third base with one out.

A strikeout and a lineout helped him leave it unscathed.

May found himself having to pitch with runners on second and third base with one out in the frame after Church failed to cleanly field a single Mitchell ripped up the middle.

To quiet the situation, May began an at-bat vs. Frelick by locating a curveball and a fastball up and in that Frelick could only foul off, leading to an 0-2 count. May dialed back a second fastball that missed up before locating a 97.8 mph sinker on the inner half of the plate that froze Frelick for strike three.

The righty got to two strikes three pitches into his encounter with Pratt. He fired a cutter, sweeper and sinker to open the at-bat before rearing back for a 98.4 mph fastball that resulted in a lineout to second baseman JJ Wetherholt.

____

©2026 STLtoday.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.