Starting pitching was once again the weak spot for the St Louis Cardinals, as Erich Fedde allowed six runs in the first three innings, en route to an 8-4 loss at the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, July 22.

Fedde allowed a one-out home run to Mickey Moniak in the first, then gave up two runs on a two-out double in the second to Adael Amador. A three-run home run to Ryan McMahon in the third was the nail in the proverbial coffin, as Fedde was pulled before the fourth. The Rockies torched Fedde for seven hits and a walk, while striking out five times in Fedde’s tenth loss of the season. Kyle Leahy and Riley O’Brien each gave up a run in their relief appearances, while Colorado’s Bradley Blalock secured his first win of the season.

Blalock allowed two runs on eight hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. Those two runs came in the fourth, when Alec Burleson scored on Nolan Arenado’s groundout. Masyn Winn then brought Willson Contreras home from second with a single in the next at-bat. Brendan Donovan had an RBI double in the seventh inning, followed by Yohel Pozo in the eighth.

The Cardinals sit at 52-50, tied for third in the NL Central with the Reds, 8.5 games behind the Cubs in the division. The Redbirds remain 3.5 games behind San Diego for the third wild card spot. Andre Pallante will get the start for the Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon in the final game of the series, with first pitch at 2:10 p.m.