photo: Nolan Gorman (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The gains of May were erased as the St. Louis Cardinals are a season-worst seven games behind Chicago. During the 1-6 week, Nolan Gorman led the offense with a 1.059 OPS, hit two home runs and drove in six. Struggling Lars Nootbaar went 0-for-18. We remember notable walk-offs during this period in team history.
Game recaps
Monday, June 9, 2025 – Cardinals 4, Blue Jays 5 (10 innings)
At Busch Stadium on Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first of a three-game series. Starter Andre Pallante pitched six innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out three and walked one.
Riley 0’Brien relieved Pallante and surrendered one run in two innings. Ryan Helsley yielded one run in the ninth and was tagged with a blown save, his fifth of the season. Phil Maton allowed one unearned run in the 10th as a ghost runner scored the deciding run.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. They added one in the second. In the top of the eighth, the Blue Jays scored a third run.
St. Louis finally got on the board with a rally in the home eighth to take a 4-3 lead. Victor Scott walked. Masyn Winn singled. Willson Contreras singled and Scott scored. Iván Herrera followed with a three-run home run.
The Blue Jays tied the game in the ninth and won in the 10th as the Cardinals offense did not answer.
St. Louis scored four runs on seven hits. Herrera was 2-for-4 with three RBI.
On defense, Herrera was charged with catcher interference.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 – Cardinals 9, Blue Jays 10
The Cardinals again lost to the Blue Jays by one run on Tuesday. Starter Miles Mikolas pitched five innings, gave up six runs on nine hits and struck out two. Mikolas took the loss.
John King relieved Mikolas and surrendered one run in 1 1/3 innings. Kyle Leahy yielded one run in 1 2/3 innings. Chris Roycroft allowed two runs in the ninth.
Toronto went up 3-0 in the first inning and added a run in the top of the fourth. St. Louis answered with four runs in the home fourth to tie the game. Brendan Donovan was hit by a pitch. Alec Burleson singled. Nolan Arenado singled to score Donovan. Nolan Gorman followed with a three-run home run.
In the fifth, the Jays scored twice to take the lead at 6-4. They did it again in the seventh to increase the lead to 8-4.
In the eighth, the Cardinals put up two runs. Burleson singled before Nolan Arenado hit a two-run home run.
Toronto continued to score with two runs in the top of the ninth to widen the lead to 10-6. The Cardinals threatened in the bottom of the ninth, but the three-run tally fell just short. Masyn Winn and Iván Herrera singled. Willson Contreras blasted a three-run home run.
The Cardinals scored nine runs on 12 hits. Arenado was 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Gorman was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Burleson was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Herrera was 2-for-5. Contreras had three RBI.
On defense, Contreras had a missed catch error.
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 – Cardinals 2, Blue Jays 5
The Cardinals were swept at home by the Blue Jays with a loss in the final game of the series on Wednesday. Starter Matthew Liberatore pitched five innings, gave up five runs on nine hits, fanned four and walked one. The left hander took the loss.
Riley O’Brien relieved Liberatore and threw two scoreless innings. Chris Roycroft tossed the final two scoreless innings.
The Cardinals went ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Masyn Winn singled. Winn advanced on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. Willson Contreras singled to score Winn.
St. Louis added a run in the second on a solo home run by Yohel Pozo. The Blue Jays came back in the third to score two runs to tie the game. They added two runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth to lead 5-2. That ended the evening’s scoring.
The Cardinals scored two runs on seven hits. Contreras was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Victor Scott was 2-for-4.
On the bases, Scott stole his 18th base of the season. On defense, Gorman made a fielding error.
Thursday, June 12, 2025 – Cardinals 0, Brewers 6
The Cardinals were blanked by the Brewers in the first of a four-game series in Milwaukee on Thursday. Starter Sonny Gray pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up six runs on eight hits, fanned four and walked one. Gray took the loss, his second of the season.
In his MLB debut, Andre Granillo relieved Gray and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings. John King tossed a scoreless eighth.
Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. They put up a five run fifth to lead 6-0.
The Cardinals offense managed only three hits, all singles. They were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.
On defense, Gray picked a runner off first base. Pedro Pagés was charged with a passed ball.
Friday, June 13, 2025 – Cardinals 2, Brewers 3
The Cardinals were edged by the Brewers by a 3-2 score on Friday. Starter Erick Fedde pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up three runs on four hits, fanned five and walked one. Fedde took the loss.
Steven Matz relieved Fedde and threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Riley O’Brien tossed a scoreless eighth.
The Brewers scored one run in the fourth. The Cardinals answered in the fifth to tie the game. Alec Burleson doubled and came home on a double by Nolan Arenado.
Milwaukee put up two runs in the sixth to regain the lead. St. Louis added a run in the ninth to shrink the final score to 3-2. Nolan Gorman doubled and was driven in by a single from Victor Scott.
The Cardinals scored two runs on seven hits. Burleson was 2-for-4.
On the bases, Scott stole his 19th base of the season.
Saturday, June 14, 2025 – Cardinals 8, Brewers 5
Snapping their six-game losing skid, the Cardinals defeated the Brewers by the score of 8-5 on Saturday. Starter Andre Pallante pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up four runs, three earned, on four hits, fanned seven and walked two.
Kyle Leahy relieved Pallante and threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win. JoJo Romero hurled 2/3 of a scoreless inning. Phil Maton tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Ryan Helsley surrendered one run in the ninth.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Masyn Winn singled. Iván Herrera walked. Alec Burleson singled to score Winn.
St. Louis added three runs in the top of the fourth. Nolan Arenado singled. Nolan Gorman walked. Jordan Walker reached on a fielder’s choice. As Arenado scored, the runners advanced on an error. Victor Scott plated Gorman and Walker on a single.
In the home fourth, the Brewers cut the lead to 4-1. The Cardinals put up three runs in the top of the fifth to increase the edge to 7-1. Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch. Arenado walked. Nolan Gorman followed with a three-run home run.
Milwaukee shrunk the lead to 7-4 with a three-run bottom of the fifth. In the top of the ninth, the Cardinals made it 8-4 on a solo home run by Contreras.
The Brewers added one more run in the bottom of the inning to shrink the final score to 8-5.
The Cardinals scored eight runs on 10 hits. Burleson was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Gorman had three RBI and scored two runs. Scott had two RBI. Arenado and Contreras both scored twice.
On defense, Pedro Pagés had a passed ball.
Sunday, June 15, 2025 – Cardinals 2, Brewers 3
The Cardinals lost to the Brewers by a 3-2 score in the final game of the series and dropped three of four in Milwaukee. Starter Miles Mikolas pitched six innings, gave up two runs on six hits, fanned seven and walked one. Mikolas took the loss.
John King relieved Mikolas and surrendered one run in 2/3 of an inning. Kyle Leahy threw one scoreless inning. JoJo Romero secured the final out of the eighth.
The Cardinals scored one run in the top of the fourth. Brendan Donovan and Iván Herrera singled. Donovan scored on a ground out by Willson Contreras.
The Brewers put up two runs in the home fourth to take the lead. They added a third run in the seventh.
The Cardinals scored one run in the ninth but failed miserably in getting more runs home with two on and no outs in the inning.
The offense plated two runs on nine hits. Herrera was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Donovan and Gorman were each 2-for-4. The Cardinals were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
The Big Picture
The Cardinals finished the week with a very disappointing 1-6 record. They were swept in three games at home by the Blue Jays and lost 3 of 4 to the Brewers. St. Louis is now tied with the Reds for third place, are 2.5 games back of the Brewers, and a season-worst seven games behind the Cubs. In other words, the advancement the team made in the standings with their excellent May performance has more than been erased.
The offense has been hit or miss for most of June. Brendan Donovan missed all but the last game of the Brewers series with a toe injury. The rest of the offense couldn’t make up for that missing bat in the lineup.
The top performers by OPS for the week are Nolan Gorman (1.059), and Willson Contreras (.998). Close behind were Iván Herrera (.886) and Yohel Pozo (.834 in 6 ABs).
At the bottom are Masyn Winn (.276), Pedro Pagés (.266) and Lars Nootbaar (.053). Nootbaar has been taken out of the lineup for a brief period to try to reset.
On the pitching side, it was a bad week as well. No starter had an ERA under 4.00 for the period. Andre Pallante (4.36) was the closest. Erick Fedde was next at 5.36. Sonny Gray (12.46) pitched another clunker against the Brewers.
The bullpen kept the status quo for the most part except for Ryan Helsley (9.00), who hasn’t pitched well for some time, John King (6.00) and Chris Roycroft (6.00). The latter was mercifully sent back to Memphis in favor of Andre Granillo, the new guy in the pen.
The Cardinals have an off day Monday and then will play the last place White Sox in Chicago. All bets are off about how that series will turn out given the poor performance by this team in the month of June (4-10 record so far). Last year, the Pale Hose posted the worst record in MLB history at 41-121 but still took a three-game set over the Cardinals in St. Louis.
After the White Sox, the Cardinals will face the Reds at home. The Reds are 7-3 in their last 10 games and beat the 46-27 Tigers in two of three games in their recent series.
The performance of the Cardinals has to change and quickly.
NL Central Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB |
| Chicago | 44 | 28 | 0.611 | |
| Milwaukee | 39 | 34 | 0.534 | 5.5 |
| St. Louis | 37 | 35 | 0.514 | 7 |
| Cincinnati | 37 | 35 | 0.514 | 7 |
| Pittsburgh | 29 | 44 | 0.397 | 15.5 |
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade and acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 6/9 The Cardinals recalled RHP Riley 0’Brien from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/9 The Cardinals optioned RHP Michael McGreevy to the Memphis Redbirds
- 6/9 The Cardinals recalled RHP Chris Roycroft from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/9 The Cardinals optioned RHP Matt Svanson to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/12 The Cardinals recalled CF Michael Siani from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/12 The Cardinals selected the contract of RHP Andre Granillo from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/12 The Cardinals optioned RHP Chris Roycroft to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/12 The Cardinals designated RF Ryan Vilade for assignment.
- 6/12 The Cardinals sent RF Jordan Walker on a rehab assignment to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/14 RF Ryan Vilade was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds.
- 6/14 The Cardinals optioned CF Michael Siani to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 6/14 The Cardinals activated RF Jordan Walker from the 10-day injured list.
Injury Report
- LHP Zack Thompson (left lat strain) was placed on the 15-day injured list on March 24. Thompson missed most of spring training. Thompson had a setback in his rehab and has returned to the Cardinals spring training facility in Jupiter, Florida to resume his throwing program.
- RF Jordan Walker (left wrist inflammation) was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday.
- 2B/OF Brendan Donovan (left big toe capsule sprain) injured his toe on June 10. Donovan was withheld from the lineup for the final game with the Blue Jays and the first three games with the Brewers. He was back in the lineup on Sunday.
Looking Ahead
The team is off Monday, June 16, prior to meeting the White Sox in Chicago for a three-game series. Matthew Liberatore is scheduled to make the Tuesday start, followed by Sonny Gray on Wednesday, and Erick Fedde on Thursday.
The Cardinals head home to play the Reds in a weekend series beginning on Friday, June 20. The Cubs face the Cardinals for the first time this season as they come to St. Louis for four games.
Another road trip ends the month, with three game sets at the Guardians and Pirates, with the Pittsburgh series extending into July. After a travel day on Thursday, July 3, the Cardinals once again play the Cubs, this time at Wrigley Field for a weekend series.
After a Monday off day, the Cardinals return home to Busch Stadium for a six-game homestand with the Nationals and the Braves before the All-Star Break begins on Monday, July 14.
Blast from the Past
Last week, we reviewed Cardinals’ walk-off wins during a period in franchise history.
Walk-off wins are the most exciting way to end a baseball game. This series will continue off and on going forward.
Below is a list of walk off wins during the period June 9 through June 15 in past Cardinals seasons, starting with the date of the game, the hitter who was responsible for the walk off and any other notable details.
June 9, 1992 – The Cardinals beat the Cubs at Busch Stadium in a 6-5 walk off in 11 innings. The game was tied 5-5 at the end of regulation. Neither team scored in the 10th. The Cubs failed to score in the top of the 11th, but the Cardinals were able to push a run across the plate.
Ozzie Smith singled after a Ray Lankford ground out. Bernard Gilkey followed Smith with a single. After a fly ball out by Felix Jose, Todd Zeile hit a line drive single to left, scoring Smith for the 6-5 walk off win.
June 12, 1999 – In 1999, the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers in a walk off at Busch Stadium by the score of 8-7. It took 14 innings to accomplish.
The teams were tied 7-7 at the end of regulation play. Through innings 10, 11, 12, and 13, neither team scored.
In the 14th, Willie McGee led off with a single. Mark McGuire flied out to center. Ray Lankford and Fernando Tatis singled to load the bases. Darren Bragg struck out. The next batter, Edgar Renteria, hit a line drive single to right to score McGee to end the game.
June 13, 1994 – On this date, the Cardinals won by 2-1 score over the then Florida Marlins in nine innings.
The Cardinals led 1-0 going into the ninth, but the Marlins tied it. In the bottom of the nine, Todd Zeile flied out to center. Ray Lankford followed with a double to left. Mark Whiten was intentionally walked. Tom Pagnozzi was up next and hit a line drive single to right to score Lankford.
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