MILWAUKEE — The Cardinals thought they caught a break when a rainout let them save Sonny Gray to start the opener of a four-game series on Thursday night against the Brewers in Milwaukee.
It didn’t work out the way the Cardinals had hoped.
Gray, who came into the game with a 0.89 ERA in his first five starts for the Cardinals, gave up three runs in the first inning and six in the game as the Cardinals lost their season-high fifth consecutive game.
Gray had not allowed a run in the first four innings in any of his starts but saw the Brewers hit three home runs as they beat the Cardinals for the fourth time in as many games this season.
The Cardinals have gone 1-6 so far in May and have lost seven of their last eight games, falling to a season-low seven games under .500 at 15-22.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had six hits and got their only run on a home run by Lars Nootbaar in the third … They loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth with their second, third and fourth-place hitter coming up but failed to score as Nootbaar hit into a force out at the plate, Nolan Arenado fouled out and Alec Burleson flied out … The Cardinals were 0-of-8 with a runner in scoring position and left 10 runners on base … Their only hitter with two hits was Michael Siani.
On the mound: Gray had allowed only one home run in his first 30 2/3 innings this season. It was the first time he allowed three homers in a game since he was with Cincinnati, against the Cardinals, on July 25, 2021 … Gray has allowed a total of eight earned runs this season, seven of which have come in his two starts against the Brewers … The final Milwaukee run scored off Nick Robertson.
Key stat: In the seven games so far in May, the trio of Willson Contreras, Arenado and Siani are a combined 23-of-58. The rest of the team is a combined 24-of-174, a .138 average. They have scored a collective 19 runs in the seven games, an average of 2.71 runs per game.
Worth noting: Paul Goldschmidt, mired in the second longest slump of his career, did not play in the game. He has not had a hit in his last 24 at-bats, and the only other time in his career he had a longer hitless streak was when he was 0-of-26 while playing for Arizona in 2018 … Contreras did have surgery on his broken left arm on Wednesday in St. Louis. He is not expected back until after the All-Star break … The two steals by the Brewers left the Cardinals opponents 25 of 28 in stolen base attempts this season … Matt Carpenter hit his second home run for Memphis on Thursday … Zack Thompson did not allow a hit in three innings for Memphis but also issued seven walks.
Looking ahead: Lance Lynn is the scheduled starter on Friday night in the second game of the series.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
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