Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 9, Padres 7
By Rob Rains
Scoring six runs in the second inning, with Sonny Gray on the mound, would have seemed like the path to a pretty easy win for the Cardinals.
That’s not the way things have been going of late, however.
The Cardinals did get the victory over the Padres on Thursday night at Busch Stadium, but there was nothing easy about it.
Gray allowed 11 hits and seven runs, six of them earned, over five innings but the offense was able to pick him up by adding a couple of runs after Gray left the game to finish off only their second win in seven games since the All-Star break.
It was only the second time in Gray’s 319 career starts that he won a game when he allowed seven or more runs. The other time it happened was earlier this year, on May 14, when he gave up seven runs against the Phillies but the Cardinals won 14-7.
This was the sixth time in the last seven games the Cardinals starter allowed five or more runs, the second in a row in a game started by Gray.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The big blows in the second inning were three-run homers from Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras, both coming with two outs. It was the biggest inning for the Cardinals since they also scored six times on May 19 against Detroit … The six runs gave the Cardinals a 7-2 lead after they also scored in the first on a single by Donovan and a double from Contreras … Ivan Herrera drove in the final two runs with an RBI single in the fourth and a home run in the sixth … Donovan and Herrera each had three-hit nights while Victor Scott II reached base three times on two walks and a single. He stole his 26th base and scored twice.
On the mound: The Cardinals are now 12-1 in games started by Gray at Busch Stadium this season. The seven runs were the most he has allowed a home game since joining the Cardinals last year. The Padres scored twice in the first, three times in the third on homers from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, and added two more runs in the fifth … The Padres got the tying run to the plate in the ninth following a leadoff single by Machado but Ryan Helsley retired the next three hitters to earn his 20th save.
Key stat: In his last three starts, Gray has pitched a total of 11 1/3 innings, allowing 25 hits and 17 runs, 15 of them earned.
Worth noting: The Cardinals have six games left before the July 31 trading deadline … Lars Noobaar (ribs) and Nolan Gorman (back) could both be well enough to go out on minor-league rehab assignments early next week.
Up next: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Friday night in the second game of the four-game series. The game time is an hour earlier than normal, at 6:15 p.m., because of a postgame concert.
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