SAN DIEGO -- Anthony Reyes committed his share of pitching sins on Sunday afternoon, but even so, there was little forgiveness for the right-hander when he did stray.

As a result, his manager preached repentance for Reyes' teammates.

Reyes pitched a decent game, if not a great one, but fell to 0-6 just the same as the Cardinals were shut out by waiver-claim right-hander Justin Germano and two Padres relievers in a 3-0 loss. St. Louis has scored eight runs in Reyes' seven starts.

It's been the same story for Reyes as for plenty of other Cardinals pitchers. They may not be setting the National League on fire, but they're pitching well enough to have better records than they've got. Asked what could be said to Reyes, manager Tony La Russa was brief and blunt.

"Apologize," La Russa said. "Apologize to him. The team isn't taking care of him very well. Apologize. 'Sorry, man. You deserve better.'"

The Cardinals were shut out for the sixth time this year, most in the Major Leagues, and the fourth time in 11 May games. They've been held to fewer than three runs in 18 of 35 games this year, and they scored in one of 27 innings during the three-game series at PETCO Park.

St. Louis ranks last in the National League in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs (tied with Washington), slugging percentage and extra-base hits.

"We're not doing our job," said Jim Edmonds. "We need to make a better effort, have a little more energy and do a better job of scoring runs. It's pretty sickening what's going on out there. This is a better team than the way we're playing, and we've got to figure it out real quick."

La Russa's frustration was evident, as he deferred all questions about offense to the batters who were held to three singles in 29 at-bats.

"I'm not getting into it again," he said. "We got beat. I think the smartest thing is to go out there and ask the guys that hit against the guy. Ask them how they feel about how we hit. I think that's really the best way."

The Cards rarely even made Germano work. He needed only 95 pitches to get through his seven innings, a dramatic contrast from when the Cards forced Chris Young to throw 104 pitches to get 16 outs on Saturday. And Germano could have gone longer. The Padres removed him for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh.

"This guy's a guy that you hope to face every day you come to the yard," said Aaron Miles. "But tip your cap to him, he threw a good game. He's got a pretty good sinker when he wants to. I just think guys [had an] off day."

None of which necessarily excuses some of Reyes' mistakes. He issued three walks, at least two of them of the extremely ill-advised variety, and committed a balk.

Reyes walked the game's leadoff batter, Marcus Giles, which turned into a first-inning run for San Diego. Jose Cruz Jr. doubled, and Brian Giles' groundout made it 1-0. Adrian Gonzalez followed with an RBI single for a two-run lead, but Reyes struck out the next two batters to keep the margin at two.

"I think today was decent," Reyes said. "I've just got to figure out a way when I'm struggling to minimize damage and not give up those runs. I've just got to focus better on putting up zeros when I'm not feeling as good as I usually do."

He walked the pitcher and Marcus Giles back-to-back with two outs in the second, though no runs scored. But even that built up Reyes' pitch count, leading to the point where he was removed after five innings and 98 pitches.

And in the fifth, just as he was picking up steam, Reyes cost himself with a balk. A bloop single and a ground-ball single put men on the corners with nobody out. Reyes tried the fake-to-third, fake-to-first move, and was charged with a balk that brought Marcus Giles home. Remarkably, Reyes escaped without any more runs, getting a grounder and two flyball outs in his final frame.

Just the same, Reyes is 0-6.

"He's not getting any support," Edmonds said. "It's sad to send a guy out there, a young guy, and not give him anything to work with. We've just got to somehow snap out of this. It's getting a little old, and we're all to blame."

Only once did the Cardinals have anything resembling a threat on a perfect, sunny day in San Diego.

Their first hit came with one out in the fifth, when Scott Rolen singled up the middle, but Juan Encarnacion followed with a double-play grounder. The only time the Cards got a runner into scoring position was in the sixth, when pinch-hitter Ryan Ludwick and Adam Kennedy hit back-to-back two-out singles. But Chris Duncan lined out to left, ending the inning and the Cardinals' best chance to avert the shutout.

"I just don't think we're playing the way we're capable of playing, and things are sliding," Edmonds said.