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The inconsistencies he saw with the movement and location of his slider as a result of trouble getting the right grip Sunday against the Padres left Cardinals rookie Michael McGreevy with an outing to learn from.

Making his first start since a spot was cleared for him earlier this week to become a full-time member of the Cardinals鈥� rotation, McGreevy surrendered a career-high seven runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings in his first time facing the Padres. The 25-year-old right-hander needed 99 pitches to get through an outing that began with walking leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. in a two-run inning where he had the All-Star right fielder in an 0-2 count.

鈥淩eally awesome to start off 0-2 to Tatis, but it鈥檚 absolutely unacceptable ... walking the first batter of the game,鈥� McGreevy said. 鈥淚 just need to be more competitive than that. ... From then on, it was just inconsistency with the slider. That鈥檚 my strikeout pitch. That鈥檚 my rollover pitch. That鈥檚 the weak contact pitch. The misses were just too uncompetitive to a really good team that kind of honey holed me a little bit.鈥�

McGreevy allowed an additional run to score in the third inning on a ground out from Jackson Merrill, then saw the Padres push across four runs in a fourth inning that took 32 pitches to get through in the Cardinals鈥� 9-2 loss at Busch Stadium.

The early hole was one the Cardinals (54-53) could not climb out of as Padres starter Stephen Kolek recorded eight ground outs and two runs over six innings. The two runs the Cardinals scored on Kolek and in the loss came from Alec Burleson鈥檚 two-run homer in the sixth inning, when they trailed 7-0.

With the loss, the Cardinals settled for a series tie in a four-game set against the Padres after dropping back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday. The loss dropped the Cardinals to 3 1/2 games behind the Padres, who they face for a three-game set next week in San Diego, in the chase for the final National League wild-card spot.

鈥淭hey out-executed us over the last two, and you split the series. We鈥檒l see them again here shortly,鈥� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

Viewed as one of the top strike-throwers during his ascent through the Cardinals farm system, McGreevy fell into 1-0 counts to half of the 26 batters he faced. His slider, a pitch that had a 37.5% whiff rate while with Class AAA Memphis this season, was used 25 times. It led to four whiffs and landed for a called strike twice.

McGreevy notched two strikeouts in the start, with one coming against Elias Diaz in the second inning and another of Tatis in the fourth. Both of the sequences to record the strikeouts ended with a whiff on his slider.

Of the seven sliders by McGreevy put in play by the Padres, two resulted in two-run doubles by Machado in the first and fourth innings. Another was hit for a single by Jake Cronenworth with no outs in the fourth inning, marking a second consecutive single in what amounted to a four-run frame.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that I wasn鈥檛 able to throw strikes with it, it鈥檚 just not good strikes,鈥� McGreevy said. 鈥淚 think the ball Manny Machado hit in that first inning, it鈥檚 a strike. It鈥檚 just not a good strike at all. All strikes aren鈥檛 good strikes. All balls aren鈥檛 bad balls. It鈥檚 just a matter of not setting myself up for success with that pitch. There were more strikeouts to be had on the table, and because that pitch was a little funky today, I just wasn鈥檛 able to do it.鈥�

What can be done to navigate an outing when his best swing-and-miss pitch, one that helped him 3.72 ERA in 75 innings in Memphis this season, remains inconsistent?

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to go to the other pitches,鈥� McGreevy said. 鈥淚 think it was (Matthew Liberatore) and I were talking about it earlier. I was talking about the slider, saying you can鈥檛 lose conviction. Even though I knew I didn鈥檛 have it that day, when the opportunity did arise where I needed to throw the slider anyway, I wasn鈥檛 scared to do it. I wasn鈥檛 backing off or passive. It鈥檚 that you still have conviction with it. It鈥檚 just one of those days where the best pitch just wasn鈥檛 there.鈥�

Heading into Sunday鈥檚 start, McGreevy held a 3.49 ERA in five big league outings this year 鈥� four of which were spot starts. He held a 2.81 ERA in 51 1/3 innings when you include his four outings (three starts) in the majors last season.

McGreevy had allowed more than four runs in an outing just once before taking the mound Sunday with his club in reach of their first series win since the final week of June. He walked five total batters in his nine appearances for the Cardinals before issuing two walks against San Diego in an outing that left him with experiences to build from.

鈥淵ou have to learn from your good outings. You鈥檝e got to learn from your bad outings,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淭his is going to be one where, no different than any other, you sit down, you have your review tomorrow, you figure out what you did well and what you didn鈥檛 and continue to grow. There鈥檚 going to be a lot of that over this stretch.

鈥�(McGreevy is) really good about that. It gives you hope that you鈥檙e going to continue to take steps in the right direction.鈥�