ST. LOUIS - Despite starting the week having lost the opening two games and the season series to the Cardinals, the San Diego Padres will departure from St. Louis with something to build on.
Not only did they avoid being swept with a 6-1 win on Wednesday but they managed to get contributions from everybody that stepped on field at Busch Stadium. The club finished the game matching their season-high with 14 hits, and all but Ty France registered a hit.
Instead, France did showcase why he is a Gold Glove recipient during the bottom of the ninth inning by snagging Xander Bogaert's off-line throw at first base and twisted his arm around to tag out Masyn Winn for a 6-3 double play.
Offensively this is the type of game the Padres want to have more often than not especially out of your core-four of Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado and Bogaerts. The unit combined 9-for-17 with two doubles, a home run and drove in all six runs. Another element that aided San Diego was their ability to start early in inning, as they posted five base-hits from their lead-off batter.
Padres Manager Craig Stammen, who has been recently voicing his concern over the team's lack of offensive power, decided to put the "spark plug" Samad Taylor in the two-hole in the batting lineup, and his decision managed to pay dividends. Taylor finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs including the game's opening run in the first inning after Machado's sac-fly to right field.
Machado got on-base again with double to lead-off the fourth inning and was brought around to score to make 2-0 following a ground ball single by Bogaerts. Tatis Jr. increased the lead to 3-0 after his double to home Will Wagner, who singled and advanced to second base on a wild pitch from Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy.
The Padres loaded the bases during the eighth inning after Merrill and Gavin Sheets singled and Bogaerts getting hit by a pitch. France would leave them stranded after lining out to left field.
However, the offense reignited for a three-run inning during the ninth, starting with a single from Sung-Mun Song (replaced Wagner at second base during the seventh inning). A batter later, he scored a run to make 4-1 after Tatis Jr. posted his second RBI following his single but was called out trying to stretch it to second base.
Taylor extended the inning with a singled and later stole second base. After an umpire review, Merrill was awarded his eighth home run of the season, catching a low and very tight sweeper that just went around the foul pole to blow it open at 6-1.
The Padres went with an identical approach to Monday's contest by beginning the game with a reliever for an inning before turning it over to the starting arm. On bump, Bradgley Rodriguez (1-2, 2.10 ERA) threw a 17 pitch scoreless opening frame. Right-hander Griffin Canning (1-5, 6.64 ERA) took over the mound in the second inning and he would go 4 1/3 on 77 pitches.
Canning, unlike most of his starts for the Padres, was impressive and displayed his best performance of the season, as he earned his first win in a Padres uniform. What really helped Canning was his ability to control counts early on and found ways mix up his pitches.
He didn't have to deal with a lot of traffic on the bases with the only time where he dealt with a high leverage situation was in the fifth inning where he gave up a walk and single to the Cardinals eighth and ninth hitter (Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church). Canning managed two get two massive outs against JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera, but Alec Burleson connected on a four-seam fastball to put St. Louis on the board for the only time today. Canning finished with an earned run on four hits, three walks and two strikeouts.
Left-handed reliever Kyle Hart would come in with a runner on first and one out during the sixth inning to replace Canning. Hart made an underrated play by catching Winn stealing second base for the second out and striking out righty Nelson Velázquez for the last out. Hart, Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon each pitched a scoreless frame to end the game.
As much the offense will get credit for this win, some of the praise should definitely be credited to the arms, who entered the game not having Mason Miller on this road trip and Ron Marinaccio serving a two-game suspension.
The Padres will have to replicate this performance, as they head to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers for the last part of their nine game road stand.
Following their day off on Thursday, the opening game of the series will be on Friday with a 5:08 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander Randy Vásquez will be on the mound while the Rangers haven't announced a starter yet.
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