March–April The Cardinals opened their regular season at
Great American Ball Park against the
Cincinnati Reds on March 31.
Adam Wainwright, making his third
Opening Day start, won his 100th career game in a 1–0 defeat of the Reds. It was also his first win on Opening Day. On April 14, the Cardinals ended the
Milwaukee Brewers' nine-game winning streak behind
Lance Lynn's seven scoreless innings. Entering the game with a 6.55
earned run average (ERA), Lynn won his third decision behind 11
strikeouts and just three
hits and three
walks allowed.
Jhonny Peralta and
Jon Jay each
homered in the 4–0 victory. Three days later, Wainwright continued his strong start for the season at
Nationals Park with a two-hit
complete game shutout in an 8-0 defeat of the
Washington Nationals. He gave up the first hit in the second inning with a high infield chopper, but none until after two outs in the ninth. In his seventh career shutout, Wainwright walked three and struck out eight. Former Cardinals' catcher and longtime television broadcaster for the
Fox network
Tim McCarver, called his first game of his scheduled 30 for the Cardinals on April 28, against the
Milwaukee Brewers on
Fox Sports Midwest, partnered with
Dan McLaughlin.
May The three-game series finale against the
Pirates on May 11, marked the end of a road-heavy start to the season with 26 of the first 38 games away from
Busch Stadium. Not since
1927, have the Cardinals had that many road games after the first 38 played. Prior to the game they were 11-14 (after, 12-14) in road games, and 7-5 at home. The 4-1 win on May 17 featured four bunt hits, two by
Kolten Wong and two by
Peter Bourjos. It was only the second time in the 2010s that a team did that, and the first time since the Detroit Tigers did it on September 23, 2003. Lefthanded pitcher
Jaime García will make his first start on May 18, since having shoulder surgery to repair a torn
labrum and
rotator cuff in late May 2013. His last major league start was May 17, 2013 vs. MIL, a 7-6 win in which he pitched 5.1 innings allowing all six runs.
Adam Wainwright threw the first one-hitter of his career on May 20, against the
Arizona Diamondbacks. It was his eighth career shutout, walking none and striking out nine.
Paul Goldschmidt was the only baserunner, getting a
double in the fourth inning off the centerfield wall after Wainwright had retired the first 11 batters. After the hit, he retired the next 16 consecutive batters, facing only 28 batters which is one over the minimum for a
perfect game. He threw 115 pitches, 86 for strikes. He becomes the second seven-game winner in the
National League as he notched his 106th career victory (against 59 losses), tying him for eighth all-time in Cardinals' history with
Slim Sallee. Three days after starter
Jaime García made his first start in over a year, reliever
Jason Motte made his return on May 21, throwing 15 pitches over 1.2 innings after a 19-month absence (October 2012) after
Tommy John surgery. Thirteen former Cardinals held a 50th anniversary reunion of their 1964 championship in conjunction with the visiting
New York Yankees team at
Busch Stadium on May 26, for the first time since
2005. The
1964 Cardinals beat the
Yankees in the
World Series that year. The 13 players paraded around Busch Stadium prior to the game with the Yankees.
Dick Groat was the oldest living player of the 13 to attend, now at 83.
Bob Gibson threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his longtime battermate, catcher
Tim McCarver. Gibson, then 28, and
Lou Brock, then 25 on June 18 (
traded for on June 15 that year for pitcher
Ernie Broglio), are in the
Hall of Fame.
Red Schoendienst, then a coach, in 1965 named the manager, along with current Cardinals' broadcaster
Mike Shannon, plus
Julián Javier,
Jerry Buchek,
Phil Gagliano,
Ron Taylor,
Gordie Richardson,
Bob Humphreys,
Charlie James, and
Carl Warwick were the others attending.
Adam Wainwright was named the
NL Co-Players of the Week for May 19–25, along with
Josh Beckett, 34, for their superb pitching. Beckett threw the season's first no-hitter on May 25, and was 2-0 for the week with a 2.57 ERA. Wainwright had the same won-loss record but boasted a 0.00 ERA, and led the Major Leagues with 21 strikeouts, 1 walk in 17 IP with nine strikeouts coming in his one-hitter shutout, and the other 12 in eight scoreless innings. He became the first NL pitcher to get to eight wins, and currently leads all Major League starting pitchers with a 1.67 ERA. In the middle game of the three-game series with the New York Yankees on May 27,
Lance Lynn threw his first complete game and first shutout, in a 6-0 win. He had started 74 games previously before throwing his five-hit shutout gem. He walked three and struck out only two, but avoided his typical one bad inning in many prior starts, throwing a career high 126 pitches. The losing pitcher on the Yankees was native St. Louisan
David Phelps, now 1-2, from
Hazelwood, Missouri, pitching in his home park for the first time. Lynn won his 40th career win against 20 losses for a sterling .667 winning percentage, and a 3.72 ERA. The Cardinals were the first team in the Major Leagues with three six-game winners: Lynn (6), Wainwright (8), and
Shelby Miller (6). The nine shutouts tied the
Texas Rangers for the lead in that category. The #2 Prospect in all of MLB, outfielder
Oscar Taveras, 21, was recalled to the majors for the first time after the May 30 game, with
Matt Adams placed on the 15-day disabled list. He was promptly placed in the lineup on May 31 at home, batting sixth, playing right field. He was hitting .325/.373/.524 at
Memphis, with 7 HR, 40 RBI, in 49 G and 191 ABs. On a Saturday afternoon May 31, 2014, Taveras, in his second career at bat (after a fly out) with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, recorded his first career hit, a home run to right field against
San Francisco Giants' starter
Yusmeiro Petit, in the rain which immediately afterward forced the first rain delay (47 min., later a 51 min. delay) of the game. He struck out in his third at-bat, but the Cardinals won 2-0. Despite the win on May 31, the team hit only 11 HRs in May, compared to 19 in March/April, for a total of only 30, ranking 15th and last in the NL. The Cardinals did hit better in May with a .266 BA compared to .246 in March/April. With Runners-in-Scoring-Position, they hit .256 in May compared to a pitiful .226 in March/April. They scored an average of 4.2 runs/game in May compared to 3.6 in March/April. The Starters' ERA ballooned to 3.74 in May compared to 2.48 in March/April, and the Relievers' ERA also increased to 4.06 in May compared to 3.73 in March/April, according to a graphic shown on
Fox Sports Midwest after the May 31 game.
June The team won in 11 innings against
Kansas City at
Kauffman Stadium on June 4 for a 31-29 (.517) won-loss record, bringing them to four games back of the
Milwaukee Brewers. This happened after suffering a blown 6–0 lead in an eventual 8–7 loss in St. Louis on June 3, after a humiliating 6–0 shutout loss the night before in getting only three hits.
Matt Carpenter got his fifth hit, a double, his second of the game in the top of the inning that drove in the go-ahead run in the eventual 5-2 win after a
Trevor Rosenthal blown save attempt for
Adam Wainwright in the bottom of the ninth with a 2-0 lead and no outs. Wainwright would have been the first nine-game winner in the NL, but remained tied for the lead with eight.
Mark Buehrle (Toronto Blue Jays) led the majors with 10 wins. It was the first five-hit game of Carpenter's career, and with a walk, a perfect night. His average jumped from .292 to .307, 11th in the NL. He was hitting only .256 on May 17, but his 14-game hitting streak (ended on June 2), plus his two-game hit streak since, added 51 points. His .395 on-base average (7th in NL) was the same as his slugging percentage. Carpenter became the first Cardinals' player to record a five-hit game since
Ryan Ludwick on September 4,
2009. He led the NL with 73 hits, was fifth with 40 runs scored, and eighth in doubles with 16.
Pat Neshek got his first major league
save in 255 games. The team turned a
triple play against the
Toronto Blue Jays off the bat of
José Bautista at
Rogers Centre in the sixth inning on June 6. It was the first in nine years (May 5,
2005) for the Cardinals, against the
San Diego Padres. The pitchers threw three consecutive scoreless games June 7–8, and 10, giving them 13 for the season in leading the majors. It was the most in franchise history after 65 games, beating the
1968 Cardinals who had 11 at that point while on their way to an NL-leading 30. Double-A
Springfield Cardinals sensational starting LH-pitcher
Marco Gonzales, the club's #4 prospect in the minors , a standout for his changeup and his command (3-2, 2.33 ERA in 7 G, 38.2 IP, 33 H, 2 HR, 10 W, 46 SO), made the long jump to make his major league debut on June 25, at
Coors Field against the
Colorado Rockies, near where he grew up in
Fort Collins. He pitched five innings, facing 24 batters, giving up seven hits, two walks, a home run, and five runs, while striking out three, including two in the first inning, including NL-batting leader
Troy Tulowitzki (.353). He doubled in his first at-bat, and scored the game's first run. Leaving after five innings with the team trailing 5-1, the team rallied for five runs over the last three innings, and won the game, 9-6 with
Pat Neshek getting his second win of the season. The game was the first for the Cardinals since 1980 to receive four
sacrifice flies. Gonzales became the first Cardinals' starter to make his debut without playing at the Triple A level since
Cliff Politte in April 1998. At the half-way point of the season on June 27, after 81 games the Cardinals were 44-37 (.543) with 306 runs scored, and 274 runs allowed. In the previous year (
2013), the Cardinals scored 783 runs, with 596 runs allowed.
July On July 2,
Adam Wainwright became the NL's first 11-game winner, pitching 7.2 innings in shutting out the
San Francisco Giants at
AT&T Park, 2-0, giving up only four hits all singles, walking two, but striking out only one in the seventh inning. He also lowered his ERA from 2.01 to 1.89 taking the NL-lead on that category after 124 innings for the season. The start was Wainwright's eighth scoreless of 17 total starts against opponents going at least seven innings. Starting pitcher
Jaime García announced on July 5 that he would have season-ending surgery to correct the
thoracic outlet syndrome condition. It is the same nerve condition that caused the end of former pitcher
Chris Carpenter's career with the Cardinals. ==Season standings==