Saturday’s Game Report: Padres 3, Cardinals 1
By Rob Rains
On a hot night at Busch Stadium, with tempers a little heated as well, the Cardinals offense was cold.
The Cardinals managed only three hits on Saturday night and lost to the Padres after winning the first two games of the series.
Willson Contreras was hit twice by pitches, and the Padres’ Manny Machado also was hit twice after the two teams also got upset on Friday night when Contreras was hit by a pitch.
After getting an extended rest following the All-Star break, Matthew Liberatore made his first start since July 11 and allowed two runs, one earned, in 4 1/3 innings.
Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals’ only run came when Nolan Arenado walked in the second and scored on a two-out double by Jordan Walker … Their other hits were a two-out single by Alec Burleson in the sixth and a one-out single by Masyn Winn in the seventh … They had only one at-bat with a runner on second base, after Walker doubled in the second, and Pedro Pages flew out to right. … Walker has posted a .323 average (10-of-31) since the All- Star break … Yohel Pozo struck out as a pinch-hitter, fending his streak of five consecutive pinch-hits.
On the mound: A fielding error by Victor Scott II led to the first run allowed by Liberatore and the second run scored on a squeeze bunt in the fourth following a leadoff double by Jake Cronenworth … Liberatore allowed five hits, walked two, hit a batter and struck out three … Kyle Leahy and Riley O’Brien kept it a one-run game until the Padres scored again off Andre Granillo in the ninth.
Key stat: The Padres were 0-of-10 with runners in scoring position and in the first three games of the series have two hits in 30 at-bats with a runner on second or third.
Worth noting: Contreras has now been hit by 17 pitches this season, the most in the National League … After Machado was hit for the second time in the ninth, the benches cleared and Cardinals’ coach Jon Jay was ejected … Arenado has now gone 22 games and 79 at-bats since his last home run on June 21. With four games left in July, Arenado is trying to keep this from being only the third month in his career without a home run. That happened in August of 2013 in his rookie season and September of 2023.
Up next: Michael McGreevy, given a spot in the rotation when Erick Fedde was designated for assignment, will pitch on Sunday in the final game of the series.
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