The St. Louis Cardinals just watched their lead disappear in the first inning, and more importantly, Dustin May might be hurt.
After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against rookie hurler Hurston Waldrep, St. Louis was kicked in the teeth.
All three Cardinal runs scored on a Jordan Walker moonshot to left-center field.
Then, in the bottom half of the inning, May got the start and surrendered five earned runs.
It started innocently enough with a single into center field by leadoff man Drake Baldwin. But two walks later, the bases were loaded, and a few batters later, Dominic Smith hit a laser off May’s lower half that dribbled into the outfield and cleared the bases.
May was on the ground, writhing in pain. He tried to remain in the game but gave up back-to-back singles right away. Consequently, he was pulled before completing one frame of work.
His ERA on the season is up to an abysmal 4.80 after 0.2 innings, five earned runs, five hits, and two walks.
May hobbled off the field after being pulled by manager Oliver Marmol, and the Cardinals will await hearing back on injury updates.
Social Media Reacts to May’s Blasphemous Outing
Underdog MLB: “Status alert: Dustin May leaves game Thursday. He was hit by a comebacker earlier in the inning.”
Ray Mileur: “#STLCards An injury note and update on Dustin May. The Cardinals skipped his June 27 turn as a precaution because of back tightness. He is scheduled to start tomorrow in Atlanta. That matters, because during this Braves-Cubs-Brewers stretch St. Louis needs May healthy and in the rotation.”
Derrick Goold: “#stlcards are going to have to cover 25 outs of this game with the bullpen if they’re going to win. Dustin May relieved 2 outs into the game. A bruising night for his ankle and ERA.”
Ari Stein: “This seems to be where the season unravels. I’m not a doomsayer. This was supposed to be a rebuild year and the team’s been a blast to watch. But the bats are cooling, the starting rotation that has been heroic is faltering which will tax an already weak pen. Snowball effect.”
Derrick Goold: “I believe that is what they call bruising batted-ball luck. Dominic Smith smokes a pitch off of Dustin May’s foot hard enough for it to carom into right field’s foul territory and clear the bases. May in clear pain as Braves flip game on him, lead 4-3. #stlcards #Cardinals #MLB.”
Cardinals Right Now
St. Louis is in a major skid, and if the score stands after May’s terrible outing, they’ll drop another series.
After a surprise start to the season, the Cardinals‘ bats, defense, and pitching have significantly cooled, leaving them in stuck in between competitiveness and mediocrity.
Not only are the Cardinals in a skid, they’ll match up with the Cubs, Braves, and Brewers before the All-Star break. That gives them one of MLB’s toughest runs leading up to the trade deadline.
St. Louis will need to pull off quite the comeback to right the ship and turn things around.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Cardinals’ Dustin May Exits Game With Potential Injury appeared first on HEAVY.