Monday’s Game Report: Padres 7, Cardinals 4
By Rob Rains
August has not been a good month for Kyle Gibson and the Cardinals.
With the team’s runway getting shorter and shorter to make a push for a wild-card playoff spot, they gave the ball to Gibson on Monday night to start a critical series at Busch Stadium against the Padres, the current holders of the second wild-card position.
It went about as well as Gibson’s first four starts this month.
He gave up a two-run home run to Manny Machado in the opening inning, surrendered two more runs in the third and then got knocked out of the game when the Padres scored three runs in the fifth en route to the victory.
Gibson only threw a first-pitch strike to 11 of the 23 hitters he faced and induced just three swings and misses among his 90 pitches.
Gibson has not won any of his five starts this month and has a composite ERA of 6.91 in those games, allowing 21 runs in 27 1/3 innings.
The Cardinals are 9-14 in August and are back under .500 at 65-66 for the season.
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Paul Goldschmidt got his first hit with a runner in scoring position in two weeks (Aug. 12) to drive in the Cardinals’ first run in the second inning, following Brendan Donovan’s triple. That snapped an 0-of-11 streak for Goldschmidt with a runner on second or third … He then struck out with a runner on third in the fourth before Matt Carpenter got the run home with a sacrifice fly … Back-to-back doubles from Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson gave the Cardinals their third run in the seventh… Winn had a three-hit night and also reached on a walk and scored the final run in the ninth on Burleson’s third hit of the game … They finished 3-of-11 with a runner in scoring position and are 6-of-34 with a runner on second or third in their last four games continuing one of their biggest problems offensively this season
On the mound: This was the third time this season Gibson allowed seven runs. He gave up five hits but also walked four as he remained winless since the All-Star break, with his last win coming on July 7 … Relievers Matthew Liberatore, Shawn Armstrong, John King and Kyle Leahy combined to keep the Padres from adding to their lead over the final four innings.
Key stat: The announced attendance of 28,697 was the third consecutive crowd of less than 30,000 at Busch Stadium, the first time that has happened since April 27-29, 2004.
Worth noting: Michael Siani will begin a rehab assignment with Triple A Memphis at Iowa on Tuesday … Steven Matz will get the start in that game as he makes what should be his last rehab start. He is expected to throw about 65 pitches … Lance Lynn threw a second live batting practice on Monday night, a simulated game of about five innings. He will also join Memphis this week and get a start on either Friday or Saturday night.
Looking ahead: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Tuesday night in the second game of the four-game series.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
To hear what the manager had to say after the game, click the audio player, below:
