ST. LOUIS (AP) — After losing a perfect game in the seventh inning, Dustin May won the adulation of the Busch Stadium crowd and his St. Louis Cardinals teammates by closing out the most dominant performance of his injury-plagued career.
“This is about as good as I’ve felt in a long time,” May said after pitching a one-hitter Monday night in a 3-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.
The 28-year-old righty threw 69 strikes during his 101-pitch masterpiece,
which he capped off with his ninth strikeout of the night.
May issued only one walk during his first complete game in 71 major league starts. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a free pass leading off the seventh inning, followed two batters later by Manny Machado's single to left field that broke up the bid for a no-hitter.
May, however, wasn't flustered. He retired the last seven batters he faced, and his final pitch broke low and away so sharply that Tatis was unable to check his swing as the ball skipped off the dirt and into catcher Jimmy Crooks' glove for strike three.
May (5-6) let out a triumphant roar and clenched his right fist as he skipped off the mound. He hugged Crooks and tipped his cap to the crowd before approaching teammates and coaches who'd lined up in front of the dugout to exchange high-fives.
One teammate dumped a chest of ice on him.
“After all the stuff I’ve been through in my career,” May said, “that was fantastic.”
May (5-6) became the first Cardinals starter this season to get an out in the eighth inning, something even he failed to do during a seven-inning, no-hit bid against Milwaukee last month.
May left that game in the eighth and took the loss after the Brewers rallied for a 2-1 victory on May 27. This time, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol left May in.
The pitcher was plagued by multiple arm injuries — and a life-threatening esophagus tear — early in his career. He accumulated just 101 innings pitched between 2021 and 2024, missing the entire 2024 season.
His first team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, traded him to Boston last season, and this season is his first with St. Louis.
May's outing on Monday night marked the ninth complete game and sixth individual shutout in the majors this season.
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