Cardinals’ top 10 moments of 2026, No. 10: Dustin May’s near perfect shutout

While the St. Louis Cardinals were firmly in the "rebuilding" camp in 2026, it's pretty easy to make the case that this was the most watchable and memorable team they've had since the 2022 season. It's a painful exercise to try and come up with the 10 best moments of the previous three seasons combined, but when it comes to this year's group, there were actually a lot of really fun moments along the way.

Over on the Dealin' the Cards podcast, we are counting down the 10 best moments of the 2026 season, and I am going to go in depth on each moment over here on Redbird Rants as we look back and remember the best moments of this new era in Cardinals baseball.

I think it's pretty fitting that #10 begins with the Cardinals' biggest free-agent signing of the offseason, and the moment that felt like they had "nailed" this reclamation project turned into an eventual trade deadline haul experiment with Dustin May.

Dustin May's near-perfect game provided the Cardinals with future hope in multiple ways

If you asked many fans after May's first two starts in Cardinals uniform how his tenure was going to work out, no one would have predicted what would come next. May's 15.95 ERA after two starts was the worst by a Cardinal in their first two starts since Alan Benes in 1995.

But then May got his feet under him, and not only did he start dealing - posting a 2.89 ERA over his next 11 starts prior to this Padres outing - but he actually remained healthy for the first time in his big league career as well. During that stretch, May made it through the sixth inning eight times, and his performance on the mound coincided with the Cardinals owning the first National League Wild Card with a record of 38-31 entering play on June 15th.

Then the magic came.

Just three starts prior to that performance, May actually took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Brewers in Milwaukee, only to have Garrett Mitchell smoke a line drive just past the outstretched glove of Bryan Torres in left field. But against the San Diego Padres, May went the distance.

May carried a perfect game into the seventh inning en route to a complete-game shutout, striking out nine batters while allowing just a walk and a single to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in the seventh. Otherwise, May was unhittable. Oh, and he did so on just 101 pitches.

In that moment, it felt like true vindication for a Cardinals front office that took a gamble on May that offseason.

The Cardinals can and should take away at least two lessons from the May experience. First, they are now a destination spot for pitchers like May, and they need to confidently target arms with upside and develop a plan to keep them healthy and maximize their talent. Second, when they do target that kind of pitcher, rather than the Kyle Gibson or Lance Lynn types, they can cash in big both on the mound and at the trade deadline.

While I was very surprised by the return the Cardinals got for May, which included two top prospects from the Milwaukee Brewers that various outlets see as top 100 prospects, when talking to people within the Cardinals organization after that deal, it sounds like they knew going into the deadline that his market was going to be hot. As trades began to fly and contenders sought out starting pitching, the Cardinals had a real trade chip in May that teams wanted because of how his stuff could potentially play in October.

The Cardinals nailed the Dustin May signing and get an A+ for the experience. They took a gamble, they maximized his talent and health, and they were rewarded with an awesome trade return to show for it. While his individual pitching performance was the 10th best moment of the season on our list, what the Cardinals pulled off here was one of the best revelations of the 2026 campaign.

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