Sure, Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras hammered the ground beside the batter’s box so hard with his bat after his seventh-inning strikeout that he walked back to the dugout with a broken bat in one hand and a bat fragment in the other on Sunday afternoon.
But it was not a sign of frustration.
Contreras made it clear while speaking to reporters in front of his locker after the Cardinals’ 2-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in front of an announced crowd of 40,715 at Busch Stadium that the team’s recent struggles have not caused frustration to set in among the players.
The Cardinals (9-13) were shut out for the second time this season, and they lost their fourth consecutive game on a day when ace starting pitcher Sonny Gray allowed just two runs in 6 1/3 innings and struck out a season-high 12 batters while getting saddled with his first loss of the season.
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“It’s not frustration,†Contreras said. “It’s just not fair. It’s not frustration because I know it’s early in the year and we’re losing. We win some games, and we lose some games.
“When a guy like that gives you a chance to make something happen and you didn’t make it happen, it makes you think a lot. I’m not frustrated. I know that this team is going to be able to turn it around.â€
The loss also meant the Cardinals were swept for the first time this season, the first sweep at home since June 12-14, 2023. The NL Central Division-leading Brewers (14-6) held the Cardinals to just six runs in the series. The Cardinals lost their seventh consecutive series finale — all of them thus far.
On Sunday, the Cardinals shuffled their batting order a bit with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt moved down to the No. 5 spot in the order and left-handed-hitting slugging second baseman Nolan Gorman moved down to No. 8.
Goldschmidt, now two seasons removed from an NL MVP campaign, had batted second exclusively this season, while Gorman, last year’s team leader in home runs and slugging percentage, hadn’t batted lower than sixth and had batted as high as third.
However, the offensive futility continued. They left 10 men on base and went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They had just six hits, and their only extra-base hit came in the second inning, on a double by rookie shortstop Masyn Winn.
Their best scoring opportunities came almost immediately out of the gate, in the first and second innings.
They started the day with back-to-back singles against Brewers pitcher Colin Rea. Brendan Donovan pushed a perfect bunt single down the third base line that rolled all the way until it hit the bag for a leadoff single. Then Contreras, who moved up into the No. 2 spot in the order, lined a single into center field.
The next batter, Lars Nootbaar, jumped on a 2-0 fastball and belted it an estimated 406 feet to center field with the exit velocity of a rocket at 106.4 mph.
Brewers center fielder Blake Perkins made a tremendous play to simultaneously track the ball, get to the wall and time his jump perfectly to reach over the wall and steal what would’ve been a three-run home run from Nootbaar.
“Game is completely different if that ball is a row in the seats as opposed to in his glove, 3-0,†Nootbaar said. “Hitting is contagious and scoring runs like that is contagious, too. I just think we play a little bit differently with a three-run lead as opposed to not.
“We obviously have been trying to do our best in trying to score some runs. It hasn’t been coming easy for us. When something like that happens, it is what it is. But what I did take note of is when I came back to the dugout coaching staff, (Matt Carpenter), all the guys were like, ‘Way to swing it,’ positive energy, which I did appreciate because it made the dugout feel lighter.â€
Both runners tagged up and advanced on the play, then Nolan Arenado walked to load the bases with just one out.
Goldschmidt hit a shallow fly ball to right field for the second out, and Alec Burleson hit a ball that came screaming off the bat at 106.3 mph. But he grounded it to the second baseman for an inning-ending force-out.
The Cardinals left two men on base in the second inning. After Winn doubled and Michael Siani drew a one-out walk, Donovan got called out on strikes, and Contreras grounded out to shortstop to end that threat.
“It’s one thing and you kind of get after some guys if there’s a lack of preparation or attention to detail, focus, hunger,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of the offense. “... I’m being quite honest, it’s not the case. We’re just struggling at the moment, and they’re trying to find their way out of it. We’ve got to be patient through that. It (stinks). There’s nothing about it that we like or they like.â€
Meanwhile, Gray held the Brewers offense in check.
The first time through their order, he struck out five and gave up just two hits, and no runner advanced past second base. He threw 21 of his first 26 pitches for strikes. The Brewers were having very little success against his sweeper. Three of the first four sweepers they offered at were swings and misses.
When Gray and Contreras noticed the Brewers right-handed hitters taking the sweeper in two-strike counts, they countered, and Gray peppered them with two-strike backdoor sinkers.
Through six innings, Gray (2-1) threw 75 pitches (55 strikes), tallied 11 strikeouts and had more swings and misses (16) than balls in play (nine). He walked Joey Ortiz on a full count with two outs in the fifth inning, and that marked his first walk of the season — 56 batters into his season.
The Brewers broke through in the seventh. Back-to-back one-out singles by Perkins and Brice Turang prompted a mound visit from Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who allowed Gray to stay in the game with runners on first and third.
Turang stole second base , then Brewers first baseman Owen Miller swatted a 2-2 sweeper to left field for a two-run single. Marmol then turned to left-handed reliever JoJo Romero and ended Gray’s outing.
“In that moment, I was going to live or die with my best,†Gray said. “That’s my best pitch. I’d gotten a lot of outs with it throughout the game. When I threw it, I was fine with how I threw it. I was going for on the plate and down, and it was on the plate and it was down.â€
Cardinals hitters had as many glares at home plate umpire Alex Tosi as they had hits in the final three innings. They stranded Goldschmidt on base after a leadoff walk in the seventh, and they left two men on in eighth.
Contreras suggested that Cardinals hitters are trying to do too much in key moments, and they need to “let loose†and play with a better “flow.â€
When asked a question about the Cardinals offense that used the phrasing “if†they turn it around, Contreras quickly pushed back.
“It’s going to happen,†he said. “There’s no ‘when’ or ‘if.’ It’s going to happen because we’re professionals. ... We’re here battling our (butt) off. Doing our best. Working our (butt) off. Hopefully it happens soon so you can ask me the same question.â€
Local product wins
Brewers reliever Bryan Hudson, a graduate of Alton High School, recorded his first major league win on Sunday. He estimated he had around 70 people he knew in attendance for the game, and his former high school team played a game at Busch Stadium in the evening.
“I came here a bunch as a kid with my grandma, my mom and my dad and that kind of stuff,†Hudson said. “I also pitched here in high school, my senior year, but obviously not to this level. So I’ve been here a handful of times but never on the field like today.â€