Cards' late rally falls flat: 'Everyone is frustrated'

ARLINGTON -- The Cardinals’ offense rallied late against the Rangers, tying the game in the top of the eighth inning Monday night at Globe Life Field, but St. Louis ultimately dropped its fourth consecutive game, 4-3, on a walk-off single by Nathaniel Lowe.

It is the Cards’ third straight one-run defeat, making the losing streak an even tougher pill to swallow as the team reflects on near misses.

“It’s frustrating,” Nolan Arenado said of the four-game skid. “We’re in a bad stretch again right now.”

After being swept by the Pirates, the Cardinals turned to veteran hurler Adam Wainwright to potentially stop the bleeding in the series opener against the Rangers.

Wainwright, who entered the contest three victories shy of 200 for his career, was solid but not spotless against Texas. In the first inning, the right-hander found himself in a tough spot with runners on second and third base and just one out. Making matters worse, the Major League leader in RBIs at the time, Adolis García, and hard-hitting rookie Josh Jung were due up in the order.

Despite the fearsome batters on deck, Wainwright was able to escape danger, striking out García before getting Jung to line out.

In the second inning, though, Wainwright was not as fortunate. Holding a one-run lead after the Cardinals scored an unearned run in the top of the inning, Wainwright struggled to contain the Rangers’ potent offense, surrendering three straight hits to begin the bottom of the frame.

Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver kickstarted the rally with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before Ezequiel Duran put the Rangers on the board with an RBI double to left field. After Garver scored on a groundout, Marcus Semien laced a single to left to give Texas an early 3-1 lead.

Although that would be the last run Wainwright allowed in his 5 1/3 innings, the longtime Cardinal expressed frustration following his performance.

“I just feel like I was [pitching] too much at the thighs early,” Wainwright said. “I made some adjustments and moved around a little bit and was able to keep them off balance after the third. Through the first three innings, though, they were scrounging good at-bats and putting balls in play. I was too geared at the thigh, though. You have to be down or up in this game. You can’t be pitching at the thigh, and that’s where the runs came tonight.”

Mindful of the Cardinals’ spot in the standings -- they now sit eight games out of first place in the National League Central -- Wainwright noted that he tried to ride his emotions a bit and pitch angry, but he ditched the strategy after experiencing a dip in his pitch command.

“The anger [I felt] fits in perfectly with this team right now,” Wainwright said. “Everyone is frustrated. I was frustrated on the mound and not executing like I wanted to. I tried to add something to it and just missed my location big time. Every time I try to add [anger], balls end up at the thigh and across the middle. So I just tried to dial it back a little and focused on pitching.”

On the other side of the diamond, the Cardinals showed some fight late in the game, scoring two runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 3. Following a Jordan Walker walk and back-to-back singles by pinch-hitter Nolan Gorman and Tommy Edman, the Cards found themselves in a bases-loaded, no-outs situation. Then Paul Goldschmidt smacked a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to one run before Arenado tied the game with a double off the left-field wall.

The rally was all for naught, though, as St. Louis couldn’t add on in the top of the ninth inning and Texas quickly wound up walking it off in the bottom of the frame off of Génesis Cabrera.

Despite the loss, Wainwright remained optimistic and hopeful the Cardinals can right the ship soon.

“We made some mistakes today that we don’t usually make,” Wainwright said. “Everyone is frustrated. Even some of the fans are frustrated. We’re looking forward to playing consistent baseball again. We’re really looking forward to it.”