In his first appearance with the Cardinals, Thomas earned a win by pitching two scoreless innings in an extra innings affair with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He earned saves in his next two appearances against the Montreal Expos, but was roughed up by the Chicago Cubs in his next two outings. After one more relief appearance, he made an emergency start against the San Diego Padres, and gave up five runs in four innings for his first career loss. He returned to the bullpen after that, and earned one save with a 1.54 ERA the rest of the way.