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ST. LOUIS – Blowout defeats. One-run games. Ninth-inning heartbreakers. These are among the many ways the St. Louis Cardinals have lost ballgames in a season where they’ve largely stumbled around last place.

The St. Louis Cardinals will carry a losing record into the All-Star break, currently last place in the NL Central at 35-51. Heading into Thursday, the Redbirds are in jeopardy of being swept in a four-game series for the first time this season.

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“We keep showing up and expecting it to be different, and it keeps not being different,” said Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright via The Athletic last month. “The only common denominator we have is that we find ways to lose. We lose in different ways every game.”

Cruel fate hit the Cardinals in all three of their previous losses to the Miami Marlins. In the series opener, Miles Mikolas hit a wall late in what was shaping to be a quality start turned to a Marlins comeback. In Game 2, on the Fourth of July, the Cardinals allowed a season-high 15 runs and struggling veteran Adam Wainwright was roughed up in a third straight start.

On Wednesday, perhaps the most crushing loss of all in the 2023 season, the Cardinals rallied back from an early 5-0 deficit and jumped ahead 9-8 on a clutch home run from rookie Jordan Walker, one he delivered with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth. It had the makings for the best Cardinals win of the year, until it wasn’t.

Jordan Hicks, the go-to closer in recent weeks, took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning. He walked the first hitter struck out the next and allowed the go-ahead runner on base after that with a single.

Miami’s Joey Wendle then came up and connected for a soft ground ball back to Hicks, who took a brief moment to field the ball and set into a comfortable throwing position. When Hicks threw it toward first base, the ball sailed well wide of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The two runners were hustling on the ground ball, and without a backup fielder behind first base, easily scored the game-tying and game-winning runs at home plate.

Statcast gave the Cardinals an 81% chance of winning the game after Walker’s go-ahead home run. In a matter of minutes, it fell to zero and piled on to a season filled with frustration.

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Where does this rank among Cardinals losses this season? That’s open to a lot of interpretation, but hard to think it wouldn’t rank at or near the worst. Perhaps terms like bizarre, brutal or heartbreaking are more relevant when evaluating Cardinals losses.

These are among the team’s most unusual losses this season.

FINAL: Blue Jays 10, Cardinals 9

The Blue Jays outlasted the Cardinals in a back-in-forth Opening Day marathon. After five lead changes, 12 pitcher swaps, and 34 combined hits between both teams, the Blue Jays rallied for a ninth-inning lead and spoiled a Cardinals tradition.

FINAL: Braves 4, Cardinals 1

In a rookie’s MLB debut (Atlanta starting pitcher Dylan Dodd) he Cardinals stranded seven runners on base and only collected two hits with runners in scoring position. On one of them, Tyler O’Neill misjudged a play around the basepaths and was thrown out at home. Manager Oli Marmol questioned O’Neill’s effort in a postgame news conference, likely building tension within the Cardinals clubhouse.

FINAL: Giants 5, Cardinals 4

Down to their final strike with two outs in the ninth inning, the Giants flipped the script with one swing of the bat. Blake Sabol connected for a two-run walkoff home run against then-Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley. It was the first walkoff loss on the season and the first one St. Louis lost after being one strike away from a win. In both unique cases, it wouldn’t be their last.

FINAL: Angels 6, Cardinals 4

The Cardinals actually fulfilled a tough order of doing damage against Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani, scoring four over five innings against the MVP hopeful. St. Louis brought a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning and mixed things up by using Giovanny Gallegos in the ninth inning over Ryan Helsley. It backfired. Gallegos gave up a game-tying home run to start the inning, then Angels star Mike Trout came through moments later with a go-ahead home run.

FINAL: Tigers 6, Cardinals 5

The Cardinals fall in extra innings to a low-tier Detroit Tigers team and drop their eighth consecutive game, good for the worst losing streak of the season to date. Also on this date, manager Oli Marmol informed media that new veteran Willson Contreras would take some time off from catching, creating more adversity for an embattled clubhouse.

FINAL: Royals 7, Cardinals 0

After the team’s best stretch of the season, one in which they previously won 13 of 18 games, the Cardinals come out flat against their Missouri rivals. The Royals pieced together a shutout victory during a bullpen game and held the Cardinals hitless until the seventh inning.

FINAL: Giants 8, Cardinals 5

Remember that first loss on the list to the Giants? This one was basically the same narrative except the Giants were the team playing spoiler here. The Cardinals brought a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning. Needing one strike to secure a victory, Giovanny Gallegos allowed a game-tying blast to Mike Yastrzemski. The game went to extras, and the Giants added on three more with some small ball. Behind the late charge, San Francisco ended up sweeping the three-game series in St. Louis.

FINAL: Cubs 9, Cardinals 1

The London Series did not start well at all for the Cardinals. The division-rival Cubs jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning and chased Adam Wainwright out early. The Cardinals were no-hit through four innings and stranded seven runners in limited opportunities.

FINAL: Astros 14, Cardinals 0

This finished out as the worst shutout loss in more than a decade for the Cardinals. Adam Wainwright struggled again and was lifted after allowing six runs in the second inning. The Cardinals mustered only four hits and it was the first of two pitching appearances for outfielder Alec Burleson in less than a week.

July 3-5

FINAL SCORES: Marlins 5, Cardinals 4 ; Marlins 15, Cardinals 2 ; Marlins 10, Cardinals 9

All three losses against the Miami Marlins. See recaps above. One big concern out of this series is the future of Adam Wainwright, who was placed on the injured list Wednesday after laboring through a third straight start.

Now just halfway through the 2023 season, the Cardinals are currently on pace for 96 losses this season, which would be their worst mark in terms of defeats since 1913 with 99 losses.

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