Cardinals’ Road Streak Ends in 4-2 Loss to Padres
The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals’ Road Streak Ends in 4-2 Loss to Padres
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
For four innings Saturday night, Dustin May looked as if he might give the St. Louis Cardinals a second straight special pitching performance at Petco Park.
Instead, one inning changed the game.
Ty France broke up May’s no-hit bid with a 405-foot home run in the fifth inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. followed later with a two-out, two-run single, and Manny Machado added insurance in the eighth as the San Diego Padres beat the Cardinals 4-2, snapping St. Louis’ six-game road winning streak.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 23-16, but did little to change the broader picture of a club that has played some of its best baseball away from home. St. Louis entered the night with the best road record in the majors at 13-5 and had won 12 of its previous 14 road games, including the first two games of this four-game series in San Diego.
For a while, it looked like the Cardinals might keep rolling.
May was sharp early, retiring San Diego in order in the first and working around traffic in the second. He carried a no-hitter through four innings after an earlier scoring change turned Xander Bogaerts’ second-inning grounder into a Masyn Winn error. Through four, May had allowed no hits, had his sinker and breaking ball working, and gave the Cardinals every chance to control another low-scoring game.
St. Louis gave him a lead in the fourth. Jordan Walker opened the inning with a single to center, and Nolan Gorman followed with a broken-bat base hit. Winn grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, moving Walker to third, but Nathan Church delivered with two outs, driving a double to center to score Walker and put the Cardinals ahead 1-0.
Church continued to make an impression in center field as well, running down Jackson Merrill’s deep drive to left-center in the first inning and finishing with another strong night at the plate. With limited opportunities in the lineup, Church gave the Cardinals both run prevention and run production.
But the fifth inning turned the night.
France led off the damage with one out, driving May’s pitch 405 feet to center for his fourth home run of the season. It tied the game 1-1 and gave San Diego its first run in 21 innings. The Padres, who had been 1-for-50 before France’s homer, suddenly had life.
May then walked Sung Mun-Song, and Freddy Fermin singled to put two runners aboard. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position. May struck out Merrill for the second out, but Tatis dropped a bloop single into right field, scoring both runners and giving San Diego a 3-1 lead.
It was not a loud inning after the France homer, but it was enough. A walk, a passed ball and a two-out flare changed the course of the game. That is how baseball gets you sometimes. It does not always knock the door down. Sometimes it slips through the side gate.
May came back out for the sixth and gave the Cardinals a needed clean inning. He retired Gavin Sheets, Bogaerts and Ramon Laureano in order, finishing with a quality start. May has now gone at least six innings in five of his last six starts, and while the fifth inning cost him, his overall work kept the Cardinals close.
The Cardinals’ offense, however, spent most of the night searching for the big swing that never came.
Iván Herrera singled in the first inning, extending his on-base streak, and later came through in the eighth. JJ Wetherholt, who entered the night coming off Friday’s Little League grand slam, singled in the third, stole second and eventually reached third, but he was stranded when Alec Burleson popped out. Wetherholt also was hit by a pitch in the eighth, again finding a way to get on base and set something in motion.
Herrera followed by jumping a 3-0 pitch from Adrian Morejon and ripping an RBI double down the left-field line. Wetherholt scored from first, cutting San Diego’s lead to 3-2 and giving St. Louis one more real push.
That brought the tying run to second with one out, but Burleson grounded out and Walker grounded out to short after Padres manager Mike Shildt went to Mason Miller for a four-out save. The Cardinals had made San Diego uncomfortable, but they could not get even.
The Padres answered immediately in the bottom of the eighth. Matt Svanson came on for St. Louis, and Machado took him deep for a solo home run, extending San Diego’s lead to 4-2. It was Machado’s 375th career home run and his 200th as a Padre.
St. Louis still did not go quietly in the ninth.
Gorman drew a walk against Miller after an ABS challenge confirmed ball four. Winn worked the count before striking out, and Church followed with a walk to put the tying runs aboard. Thomas Saggese struck out for the second out, but a dropped third strike allowed Luken Baker’s spot in the order, filled by Pozo, to reach and load the bases.
That brought Wetherholt to the plate with two outs, the bases loaded and the game on the line. Miller won the battle, getting a called third strike to end it.
The Cardinals loaded the bases in the ninth against one of the hardest throwers in the sport. They made the Padres earn the final out. But close does not count in the standings, and Saturday night belonged to San Diego.
Pedro Pagés had a mixed night behind the plate. He had trouble with a pair of balls that got away, including the passed ball that helped set up San Diego’s two-run single in the fifth. But he also threw out France attempting to steal second in the seventh, giving him a major league-leading 10 runners caught stealing this season. That part of his game remains a weapon.
The Cardinals will now try to settle for a series win in Sunday’s finale. They already have taken two of the first three games at Petco Park, and even with Saturday’s loss, the road trip has shown again why this club has been dangerous away from Busch Stadium.
One bad inning ended the streak.
It did not erase the way the Cardinals have been playing.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
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