ST. LOUIS -- Even as the Cardinals were going through yet another disappointing stretch of baseball, where the reasons for all of the mounting losses were seemingly different every game, the one constant they could count on of late was starting pitcher Jack Flaherty.

The talented right-hander came into Tuesday night riding a six-start stretch where he had posted a stellar 2.05 ERA and one that was even better (1.50) in his five previous outings.

However, not even Flaherty’s recent brilliance was immune in an 11-3 loss to the suddenly surging Giants at Busch Stadium. Flaherty was tagged for six runs on a career-high 10 hits and three walks over just 4 1/3 innings as St. Louis lost for an 11th time in the past 14 games.

“As much as we want to be perfect every time out, that’s not really the way the game goes; no one’s ever been perfect every time out,” Flaherty said. “You go out and make pitches, and that’s all you can really do.

“Days when you don’t execute are going to end like this.”

Whereas the Cardinals came into the middle game of the three-game set having lost seven of their past 11 games by one run -- boosting their MLB-leading total to 17 -- they were thoroughly throttled on Tuesday.

Boos filled the air when struggling catcher Willson Contreras struck out for a third time to end the fifth inning and when reliever Génesis Cabrera yielded consecutive homers in the sixth.

Manager Oliver Marmol said he is confident the Cards can still dig their way out of a hole that has them 14 games below .500 (27-41) for a second time this season.

“It’s tough, but you continue to love on those guys and let them know they’re good enough, and let them know that they’re worth it when the reality is the rest of the world is telling them that they’re not,” Marmol said.

“They’ll come out of it. It doesn’t look like it at the moment, I’ll tell you that, but they will, and they’ll be better for it. But there are some guys struggling and trying to get out of it. It hasn’t been easy, I’ll tell you that.”

The loudest cheers came at the end of the top of the fourth when Flaherty yelled at and walked toward San Francisco’s Lamonte Wade Jr., who had doubled against him earlier. Flaherty was irked when Wade continued to fake as if he was going to swipe third, and the Cardinals pitcher even pointed toward the bag and mouthed something toward Wade after striking out Thairo Estrada for the second out.

When the inning ended, Flaherty yelled at Wade as he walked off the field, causing both benches and bullpens to empty. However, no punches were thrown and no players were ejected.

Flaherty declined to discuss the matter and Wade said:

“It’s just baseball. Tempers flare. I’m just happy we got the win. I can’t really speak for what he thought. I just know what I can control. I was doing my job at second base. That’s all I can do. We got the win, so I’m not worried about it.”

Unlike in previous starts, when Flaherty had stellar command of his four-seam fastball and played his wipeout slider off it, the 6-foot-4 righty was wild throughout.

Flaherty walked three batters in the first three innings and two came around to score. In the third inning alone, Flaherty gave up two singles, walked two batters and hit a third, resulting in a broken right forearm for Giants slugger Mitch Haniger.

After pitching around Wade's double and barking at the Giants’ leadoff hitter, Flaherty totally unraveled in the fifth. He gave up three straight singles as the first five batters reached before being lifted after 101 pitches (just 58 strikes).

Another sign of how much Flaherty struggled with his four-seam fastball: Of the 34 he threw, the Giants only swung and missed one. Flaherty got three swings and misses on his knuckle curve, but he left many of the 22 he threw up in the zone and they were hit hard.

“Fastball command wasn’t great and it hasn’t been great all year, so we’ve been pitching around that,” Flaherty said. “You feel like you get in a rhythm after a pretty long first [inning] and a quick second. You’re always looking to try and get in a rhythm, but they battled.

“That’s a good team, and that lineup scratches and claws. I’ve just got to execute better when I get in those spots.”