Another close loss takes its toll on Cardinals’ morale

12:58 AM ET

CINCINNATI — Adam Wainwright stood at his locker stall and talked, in somber tones, as if he had just let his teammates down for failing to pitch deep into the game. Never mind that he allowed only two runs on five hits in one of the most extreme hitters’ parks in the major leagues, not to mention hit a home run of his own.

Seung Hwan Oh didn’t talk at all. He and his interpreter both left the clubhouse without speaking to the media after Tuesday night’s 7-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, capped by Scott Schebler’s towering walk-off home run against the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer. Never mind that Oh had escaped a nearly impossible jam: bases-loaded, nobody-out in the previous inning.

It was that kind of night, one of stilted frustration in the Cardinals’ clubhouse, a measure of the three comebacks that went for naught and a measure, probably, of the dwindling number of games left in a season that has thus far been defined by unfulfilled promise.

“When you have it as close as this, it can be kind of heartbreaking,” Wainwright said, “but we’ll show up [Wednesday].”

Adam Wainwright’s high pitch count after five innings made for a long night for the Cardinals’ bullpen. Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Oh cleaned up Jonathan Broxton’s mess. Kevin Siegrist cleaned up newly acquired reliever Zach Duke’s mess. But the upshot was another big mess for the Cardinals, who are in danger of sinking completely out of the National League Central picture and continue to miss chances to seize control of a winnable wild-card berth. The Cardinals dropped to …

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