By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Louis Cardinals comeback fell short, but the Redbirds clawed back against Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, rattling the defending AL Cy Young winner, but ultimately falling 5-4 to the Tigers in the middle game of a three game series at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis fell behind in the first inning quickly as Kerry Carpenter led off the game with a solo home run to right field for Detroit. Zach McKinstry doubled later in the inning and was singled home in the very next at bat by Riley Greene, putting the Tigers up 2-0 before the Cardinals even got the chance to bat.
Detroit extended their lead in the third inning, again thanks to Greene as the Tigers designated hitter powered a two run home run to right field, driving in Gleyber Torres. Through the first four innings, Skubal held the Cardinals to a single hit. It was the fifth inning where the Redbirds began their comeback.
Iván Herrera led off the inning with a single, and scored on a two run home run by Nolan Arenado to left field cutting the Tigers lead in half. In the sixth, St. Louis continued chipping away Herrera singling home Masyn Winn who opened the inning with a single, before the Cardinals tied up the game in the seventh inning, Victor Scott scoring on a sacrifice fly by Winn.
Arenado goes deep! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/KnOgFxg6s4
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 21, 2025
Vic and Masyn bring in the tying run and this place is LOUD!! pic.twitter.com/DWK0p2FvPq
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 21, 2025
In the ninth inning though, Greene continued his night of terror against the Cardinals, driving in his fourth run of the game with a double, bringing home McKinstry for the go ahead run. In the bottom half of the inning, Tommy Kahnle retired the Cardinals batters 1-2-3 for his sixth save of the season.
Erick Fedded pitched five innings and gave up four runs on five hits, striking out two in the no decision. Kyle Leahy took the loss, falling to 1-1 on the season, giving up one run on two hits, striking out one in relief. Herrera (2-3, 1 RBI) and Arenado (2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI) led the way hitting in the loss.
St. Louis and Detroit wrap up their series tomorrow, before an off day on Thursday for St. Louis. Andre Pallante (4-2, 4.11 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals in the finale against Brant Hurter (1-0, 2.35 ERA) for the Tigers. First pitch is at 12:15pm with pregame being joined at 12:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
