Sunday’s Game Report: Padres 7, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
There were a lot of swings and misses on Sunday in San Diego, but unfortunately for the Cardinals most of them came from their batters.
Held to just one hit, a first-inning single by Ivan Herrera, through the first eight innings, the Cardinals trailed 7-0 going to the ninth inning but managed to get the tying run to the plate with a late rally.
After scoring three times on five hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly, the Cardinals had the bases loaded with two outs but Masyn Winn lined back to the pitcher to end the game.
Winn was one of six Cardinals who struck out at least twice in the game as they equaled their season high of striking out 16 times, which they also did on May 28 at Baltimore.
The loss dropped the Cardinals back below .500 at 56-57 and to a season-low 12 games behind the division-leading Brewers. They lost two of the three games to the Padres and are 5-11 since the All-Star break.
During those 16 games the Cardinals have been outscored 81-51.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Only four batters reached base through the eighth inning; Herrera on his first-inning single and when he reached on catcher’s interference in the third, and Willson Contreras and Yohel Pozo on walks in the first and eighth innings … Fifteen of their first 24 outs through the eighth came on strikeouts and Pozo also struck out in the ninth … Winn and Thomas Saggese each fanned three times … They got RBI singles in the ninth from Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker and a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Lars Nootbaar.
On the mound: Andre Pallante got out of jams in each of the first three innings when the Padres stranded five runners but he wasn’t as lucky in the fourth, giving up a two-run homer to Jake Cronenworth … Gordon Graceffo worked a scoreless sixth but was asked to go back out and pitch a second inning and gave up four runs in the seventh, the big blow a bases-loaded triple by Jackson Merrill … Roddery Munoz allowed the final run on a home run in the eighth.
Key stat: This was the ninth consecutive game in which the Cardinals failed to score in the first inning. They are a combined 3-of-29 in the opening inning in those games. They have only scored one run in the first inning in their last 18 games while allowing 14 runs.
Worth noting: Brendan Donovan was a late scratch from the lineup because of what the Cardinals described as a “family emergency.” No other details were provided … Gorman had been scheduled to have the day off but he moved into the lineup at third and Saggese moved to second … Top prospect JJ Wetherholt had three more hits on Sunday, including his sixth home run since his promotion to Memphis, and is now hitting .344. He played third base for the first time as a professional.
Up next: The Cardinals headed north to Los Angeles after the game and will open a three-game series against the Dodgers on Monday night. The rotation for the series will be Sonny Gray in the opener, followed by Miles Mikolas and Matthew Liberatore. Shohei Ohtani is listed as the starter for the Dodgers for Wednesday’s day game.
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