Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Fall Short Of Breaking Incredible MLB Record In Troubling Loss To Pirates

St. Louis needs to return to the win column above all else
Nate Hagerty|
Apr 7, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) hits a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Apr 7, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) hits a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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The St. Louis Cardinals had much to lose heading into Monday night's series opener against the National League Central foe Pittsburgh Pirates.

Since beginning 2025 with a series sweep over the Minnesota Twins, the Cardinals have posted a 1-5 record and sit 2 1/2 games behind the hated Chicago Cubs in their division.

Fortunately, the season is long, so St. Louis has plenty of time to recover. However, the Cardinals missed a golden opportunity to cement their name in Major League Baseball's all-time record books by narrowly missing the mark for achieving something that only one other team has accomplished.

"The Cardinals now have had 10+ hits in all nine games this season, the 2nd-longest such streak to start a season since the mound was moved to its current distance (1893), behind only: 1999 Cleveland (Indians): 10," MLB.com's Sarah Langs reported on Sunday before the Cardinals logged nine hits against the Pirates the following day, falling one hit short of tying Cleveland's astonishing record.

Despite Cardinals fan favorite Masyn Winn smashing his first home run of the year during the top of the 9th inning with one out on Monday versus the Pirates, Lars Nootbaar and three-time All-Star Willson Contreras couldn't find a way to log one more hit, which would've given St. Louis their 10th of the game to keep their almost record-breaking streak alive.

Although it's disappointing to see the Cardinals' incredible hitting streak come to an end, their offense is among the league's best -- ranking first in batting average (.297), second in OPS (.851) and hits (109) and third in runs scored (66).

Sadly, St. Louis' pitching staff is to blame for the club's lackluster 4-6 record. Cardinals ace Sonny Gray is scheduled for what could be an epic pitcher's duel on Tuesday against 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. Hopefully, the Redbirds' fire-hot offense gives the phenom hurler his third straight loss to the 11-time World Series champions.

More MLB: Cardinals Transfer Former First-Round Pick To 60-Day IL; Promote Intriguing Slugger

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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