ST. LOUIS -- Any momentum the San Diego offense built last week vanished Monday night as the Padres fell 3-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the series opener at Busch Stadium.
San Diego entered the series ranking last in Major League Baseball in runs scored, batting average, slugging and on-base percentage. Despite the season-long struggles, the Padres came to St. Louis riding their best stretch in weeks, averaging more than five runs per game over a six-game span that helped secure back-to-back series wins over the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles — something that had not happened since late April.
A lineup that appeared to be trending upward came crashing down at the hands of Cardinals starter Dustin May, who fired the best start of his seven-year career, tossing a complete game shutout allowing just one hit and striking out nine.
May, who is very familiar with the San Diego superstars due to his time with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, retired the first 18 batters before walking Fernando Tatis Jr. to begin the seventh, ending his perfect game bid. Prior to Monday, the 28-year-old had never recorded an out beyond the seventh inning in any of his 70 career starts since debuting in August 2019.
May did not allow a baserunner in eight of the nine innings he pitched, with the only two runners coming in the seventh from the Tatis Jr. walk and a Manny Machado single.
Left fielder Gavin Sheets had a chance to get San Diego on the board with runners at the corners representing the tying run. May fired a 90-mph changeup, inducing a 6-3 double play on the first pitch to escape jam and hold the Padres scoreless.
May finished off the complete game one-hitter with a strikeout of Tatis Jr. on a filthy 86-mph sweeper, putting an exclamation point on a marvelous performance.
Dustin May finishes the first complete game AND shutout of his career 😤 pic.twitter.com/tXWltetICr
— MLB (@MLB) June 16, 2026
Padres manager Craig Stammen turned to left-hander Wandy Peralta as an opener for Lucas Giolito in an effort to keep the veteran right-hander from facing the Cardinals' dangerous lefties a third time through the order.
"I think strategically it's not allowing them to face the top of the lineup right away and maybe not three times in the game," Stammen said pregame.
One of those powerful hitters at the top of the St. Louis order was Alec Burleson, who entered the game with the highest slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers in baseball. In his first at-bat against Giolito, the first baseman crushed a fastball to center field in pursuit of his 14th home run of the season. Fortunately for Giolito, Jackson Merrill tracked it to the wall and timed his leap perfectly, robbing Burleson of a homer and keeping the game tied.
After retiring the next batter, Giolito allowed back-to-back singles, including one that deflected off his glove, setting the table for catcher Jimmy Crooks. The second-year backstop made him pay for the mistake, lacing a two-run double into the gap between Sheets and Merrill to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
Burleson got his revenge an inning later, driving a ball into the right-field corner for an RBI double to extend St. Louis' lead to three. Tha proved to be more than enough support for May, who dominated the Padres lackluster offense.
Although San Diego gave Giolito ample time to prepare for the opener role, the strategy failed to produce the desired results. The 31-year-old right-hander surrendered three runs across five innings, striking out two and walking three.
Giolito entered Monday with the lowest strike percentage (55.8) and lowest opponent swing percentage (40.0) among pitchers with at least five starts this season. Those issues persisted against St. Louis, finishing the game with just 46 strikes on 85 pitchers (54.1%) and five total whiffs.
With Monday's loss, San Diego falls to 7.5 games back of the first-place Dodgers in the National League West and into a tie for the third and final wild card spot with the Washington Nationals.
San Diego (37-34) will look to even the series Tuesday night as RHP Michael King (4-5, 3.46 ERA) takes the hill for the Padres while the Cardinals counter with RHP Andre Pallante (7-4, 3.88 ERA).