Cardinals Reached New Low in Loss to Mets

The Cardinals are trending in an unfortunate direction.

Mar 30, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Leahy (62) pitches against the New York Mets during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals opened up a three-game series on Monday night against the powerful New York Mets. Unfortunately for St. Louis, right-hander Kyle Leahy had a rough outing, allowing four runs over five innings in his first start of the season.

St. Louis also was unable to come up with the big hit, falling 4-2 to the Mets in the series opener. They are now 2-2 to start the season.

In Monday night's loss the Cardinals pitching staff reached a new low, one they hadn't hit since the start of the 2001 season. Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out.

"Per team PR, the Cardinals have allowed 51 hits this season, their most through the first 4 games of a year since they gave up 55 in 2001," Hochman posted on X.

Cardinals Reach New Low

Mar 30, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets third baseman Bo Bichette (19) hits a one run single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Fortunately for St. Louis, the season is still young. However, the trend is a little concerning. The Cardinals had to come back from 7-1 in their season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays and ultimately lost a four-run lead in the second game of the series.

While they won both games, they also allowed 11 runs on 17 hits in Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay. It's not something that fans should panic about just yet, but it is something that the Cardinals need to get under control if they want to avoid having their season spiral out of control before it's too late.

They are without Sonny Gray, who was the ace of their starting rotation in 2024 and 2025. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox over the winter.

New signing Dustin May also allowed six runs over four innings on Sunday, so while there is more depth, the staff is also allowing a lot of hits.

It should be noted though that in 2001, the last time the Cardinals allowed this many hits through the first four games, St. Louis won 93 games and earned a wild card spot, so hope is not lost.

But it is still a concerning trend that is developing for the Cardinals, and if they don't correct it soon, then they may have some big issues to overcome later in the season. It will be interesting to see how St. Louis responds in the final two games of their series with New York and if they can limit the damage from the opposition.