SAN DIEGO – A pair of errors scored their first run, then the San Diego Padres made it hurt even more in a four-run fifth inning that was all they needed to knock off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Friday night at Petco Park.
Nick Pivetta had his sixth seven-inning start of the season, with the lone hit he allowed a solo home run as the starter struck out five without a walk in his 11th win of the season. Elias Díaz added an RBI for his fourth straight game and Jackson Merrill went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
"I was thinking about it since last night, I think it was really important for us to win today, set the tone for what we've done," Pivetta said after setting a new personal record for wins in a year.
"Hats off to A.J. (Preller) for what he's done, he's a wizard with that stuff, but it seems like a good group of guys that we added, it's really exciting but I definitely really wanted to set the tone and get a win today."
San Diego (61-49) extended their winning streak to six games. In the 14 games since the All Star break, the Padres have scored four or more runs in an inning six times, with an additional three-run inning in the first game of the series at St. Louis (55-56).
Ramón Laureano was the only of three MLB field players traded for on Thursday to draw into the starting lineup, getting the nod in left field and slotting sixth in the batting order. Ryan O’Hearn made his debut as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and was hit by a pitch.
Reliever Mason Miller pitched the eighth for his first appearance, allowing back to back hits to put runners on the corners with nobody out. He struck out Jordan Walker with a 102.6 MPH elevated fastball, then got Yohel Pozo to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
"(Miller) hadn't been on the mound in five days, (so) the chance to get out there in a nice situation," said manager Mike Shildt. "It's just a good spot for him...I don't think we have to ease Mason Miller into anything, I think he's ready for anything we can throw at him and today he threw the eighth him with a lead towards the middle part of the lineup."
Pivetta set the first 12 batters down in order, needing 55 pitches and notching a trio of strikeouts. Then Wilson Contreras led off the fifth by timing up a four-seam fastball that leaked middle on an 0-2 count, hitting his 15th home run of the season 398 feet out to left center for the first run of the game.
But the Padres were able to immediately respond, as Jake Cronenworth worked a one-out walk and Jose Iglesias hit a slow, bounding grounder to third base. Nolan Gorman’s throw was wide of the bag off Contreras’s glove, then with Cronenworth rounding third, Contreras spiked a two-hop throw across the diamond that got away and allowed the tying run to come home unearned.
Iglesias took second on the pair of errors, setting the table for Díaz to come through with a lined single to left-center that put the Padres ahead and gave the catcher his fourth straight game with an RBI.
Fernando Tatis worked a nine-pitch walk, which Luis Arraez followed by reaching low and away to loop a single to left field that loaded the bases and chased starter Matthew Liberatore. Merrill then delivered a two-out, two-RBI single back up the middle off reliever Matt Svanson that gave San Diego a 4-1 lead through five.
During the winning streak the Padres have scored runs in the immediate half inning after an opponent scored three times and have responded an inning later three times.Pivetta got into just two three-ball counts all game, throwing 60 of 89 pitches for strikes in his second one-hit start and first since his season debut. The four-seam fastball was his preferred put away pitch, notching all five of K’s with his heat.
"For me, I think I just got ahead pretty well, but I think (St. Louis) allowed me to pitch deep into the baseball game," Pivetta said. "They were swinging early, not a lot of really hard contact, just kind of let me set with my plan that I had with Diaz, obviously he does a great job, but they just kind of allowed me to get deep into the baseball game."
It marked the first time in 2025 that San Diego has had their starters go seven innings in consecutive games following Darvish’s strong start in the finale against the Mets.
Robert Suarez added to his MLB lead with his 31st save of the season, working around a leadoff single and getting a game-ending double play.
"It's gonna be fluid, we're gonna pass the ball around every day (because) with the exception of coming off an off day the bullpen is getting used and we've got eight guys that we like a lot, five guys that have brought it home when tied or ahead," Shildt said about the decision to close with Suarez. "We're going to go with good matchups, good lengths, we're going to go with freshness — Jason Adam didn't pitch the eighth, (he's a) outstanding eighth inning guy but pitched two days ago so we're able to pass the ball around."
The Padres turned two in each of the final innings, with both going five-four-three, and only allowed two at bats with a runner in scoring position all evening.
Liberatore had retired ten straight between Arraez’s first inning single, which extended his hitting streak to 14 games, and Merrill’s infield hit that he hustled out with two down in the fourth. The righty's evening ended after throwing 30 pitches in the fifth inning with 4 ⅓ pitched and having surrendered four hits, two walks and eventually getting tagged for four runs (one earned) with a strikeout and took his ninth loss.
To make room for the trade deadline pickups San Diego designated Martín Maldonado and Trenton Brooks for assignment on Thursday, and followed up by also designating Tyler Wade prior to the game.
Game two will see the Padres start Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.65 ERA) against right-hander Michael McGreevy (2-2, 4.91 ERA) for the Cardinals, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. at Petco Park.
This story was updated at 9:42 p.m.