Cards witness to another walk-off by Rox

DENVER -- The Cardinals left for San Francisco on Sunday evening with a positive run differential after four games against the Rockies.

They left with a 1-3 record.

That’s the tough pill the Cardinals had to swallow following their second walk-off defeat of the series Sunday, a 3-2 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field, a peculiar series in the sense that the games were largely blasé: low-scoring, stellar pitching and rather crisp defense in a ballpark where games seem to balloon out of control in an instant.

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Closer Alex Reyes was the latest to fall victim to the Rockies’ tenacity, seeing his full-count fastball flutter into left field for the second walk-off hit of the series for Rockies catcher Elias Díaz. Reyes was named to the All-Star Game just moments before his outing.

“The at-bat got us again,” said manager Mike Shildt.

Here are three takeaways from a tough go in Colorado, as the Cardinals prepare for their last six games before the All-Star break:

Bats go quiet in offensive bastion
Coors Field provided a chance for some natural progression for an offense thirsty for a jolt of sustained pressure.

Instead, despite outhitting the Rockies, 33-27, in the series, the Cardinals continue to search for a firm foot on the gas pedal.

“It's not for a lack of work or preparation or even skill,” said infielder Matt Carpenter. “It's just, sometimes, you go through rough patches at the plate and we just, for whatever reason, haven't been able to find that real consistent run-scoring offense.”

The rough stretch has lingered from June, when St. Louis averaged 3.19 runs per game. Outside of their six-run 10th inning on Friday -- their only victory in the series in Colorado -- the Cardinals nicked Rockies pitching for just nine runs across four games to open July.

“It's just hard to go through this, and we don't have a ton of answers, but it's not from a lack of talent or lack of care,” Carpenter said. “It's just, you know, one of those things. We just got to find a way to keep pushing and get on the other side of this -- because I'm confident that we will.”

Even when the runs haven’t come, the Cardinals have gleaned their confidence from the quality of some at-bats, particularly when it comes to drawing their walks. They drew just 12 free passes in four games in Denver.

“We're still stuck in a funk,” Carpenter said. “I don't see this thing as just like all of a sudden we snap our fingers tomorrow, we get 14 hits and score 10 runs and we just go. I just think it's just going to consistently need to get better each day. … And, honestly, I think it’s coming. It’s just not coming as fast as we’d hope.”

Nimble pitching almost hung tough
The Cardinals' retooled bullpen was put to work quickly on Sunday after starter Carlos Martínez exited in the fourth inning because of a right thumb bruise. Left-hander Brandon Waddell was thrust into a rain-soaked warmup on the center-stage mound. But the line held: Waddell, Justin Miller and Andrew Miller -- Justin Miller making his Cardinals debut -- allowed no runs before the Cardinals’ back-end arms were nicked just enough.

“We had to parcel it together,” Shildt said.

What resulted was a bullpen loss in the third straight defeat.

Martínez will continue to be evaluated after bruising his thumb on a foul ball during his at-bat in the third inning.

Arenado’s homecoming draws a close
Cheers abounded from a packed Coors Field all weekend because of the excitement of the baseball played. But each day, they started with the announcement of Nolan Arenado.

The traveling Cardinals fan base and the nostalgic Rockies fan base both paid homage to the third baseman the entirety of the weekend, with standing ovations during his first at-bat each game.

Arenado paused each time to acknowledge the crowd but had to leave his old home with just a 2-for-14 showing with one extra-base hit and no RBIs -- a microcosm for the Cardinals’ offense.