ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cardinals don’t have much margin for error these days, and two mistakes in the ninth inning cost them another game on Monday night in Texas.
A walk by Genesis Cabrera and a catch not made by Nolan Arenado on a popup led to the base hit that gave the Rangers the walkoff win in the opener of a three-game series.
The loss was the fourth in a row by the Cardinals and their sixth in their last seven games. They fell 11 games under .500 at 25-36 for the season, the worst record in the National League.
The Cardinals had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the eighth but a baserunning mistake by Tommy Edman cost them a chance to take the lead.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had only three hits through seven innings against Martin Perez, and their only run came after former Cardinal Adolis Garcia dropped a fly ball for a two-base error … In the eighth, with Perez out of the game, a leadoff walk and two singles loaded the bases before Paul Goldschmidt pulled the Cardinals within 3-2 on a sacrifice fly. Arenado followed with a double that drove in the tying run, but Edman was thrown out at the plate in a rundown after failing to stop at third base. Arenado was stranded at third when Willson Contreras grounded out … A one-out walk to Paul DeJong put the go-ahead run on base in the ninth, but he was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.
On the mound: The Rangers scored three runs in the second off Adam Wainwright, who allowed four hits in the span of five batters. He pitched into the sixth before Andre Pallante relieved with a runner on first, stranding the runner … Pallante, Drew VerHagen and Ryan Helsley retired seven batters in a row to get the game to the ninth, where Cabrera retired the leadoff batter before a walk, the bloop hit that Arenado didn’t catch and another single drove in the winning run.
Key stats: The Cardinals fell to 6-14 in one-run games. They are now 1-31 in games when they trailed after seven innings and are just 4-16 in the first game of a series.
Worth noting: Dylan Carlson (sprained ankle) is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday night in Memphis. He likely will play two games, then be ready to rejoin the Cardinals when they return home from Texas on Friday night … Major League Baseball announced that Cardinals minor-league pitcher Leonardo Taveras, on the Peoria roster, has been suspended for 80 games for testing positive to a performance enhancing substance.
Looking ahead: Matthew Liberatore will get the start on Tuesday in the second game of the series.
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