The Cardinals (43-29) dropped yet another series in June, this time to the Braves in St.Louis over the weekend. The Cardinals now trail the Brewers by a full game in the NL Central and the Cubs have officially made this a 3 team race as the calendar is about to flip to July.
The struggles continue for the Cardinals this month. Dakota Hudson won the series opener Friday night, pitching a great game holding the Braves to just 2 runs on 7 hits. The offense generated just enough offense to earn the victory. After this the offense would again become stagnant.
Jack Flaherty got the ball Saturday night, as he tried to earn his NL leading 10th win of the season. But Flaherty just didn't have it allowing 5 runs on 8 hits over just 5 innings of work. He did strikeout 6 but also walked 4. The bullpen would go on to allow another 4 runs as the Cards were dominated by Max Fried and the bullpen to a 9-0 loss.
The series finale, Levi Prater got the ball and while he pitched well, he would earn his first loss (3-1) after giving up 4 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings. The bullpen would again allow 4 runs and the Cards would again be shutout, this time 8-0.
The Cardinals need to find an injection of offense somewhere. Depth is a growing concern for the organization right now, as they are getting little to no production from their bench players, or guys recalled from Memphis, outside of Levi Prater and his pitching.
With the calendar turning to July, the trade deadline being a month away, and the Cardinals finding themselves in a 3 team battle for the NL Central crown, it may be time for the Cards to address some of their needs.
The Cardinals will be back in action Monday night as they welcome the White Sox to town for a brief 2 game series.
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