Friday’s Game Report: Cardinals 6, Padres 0
By Rob Rains
Michael McGreevy had a night to remember for the Cardinals on Friday night. For JJ Wetherholt, it was a swing to remember.
McGreevy, pitching not far from where he grew up against the team he cheered for, held the Padres to just one hit over six scoreless innings as the Cardinals won in San Diego for the second consecutive night.
The only hit McGreevy allowed was a single by Jackson Merrill leading off the fourth inning. He walked two, both later in the inning, and struck out nine, the most in a start in his career. He was pulled from the game after throwing 94 pitches.
The bullpen completed the one-hit shutout, the fewest hits the Cardinals have allowed in a game in San Diego since Bud Smith’s no-hitter on Sept. 3, 2001, when he threw 134 pitches.
McGreevy got all of the runs of support he needed when Wetherholt, batting with the bases loaded in the fifth, singled to right and the play turned into a “Little League grand slam” when the ball got past Fernando Tatis Jr. and all three runners, plus Wetherholt scored. It was ruled a single and a three-base error.
The Cardinals improved to 9-2 in their last 11 games and moved to a season-high eight games over .500 at 23-15. They have won their last six road games and are 13-5 on the road this season.
The last time they were eight games above .500 was on June 30 of last season.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Wetherholt’s “Little League grand slam” came in the fifth inning after the Cardinals loaded the bases on singles by Masyn Winn and Nathan Church and a walk to Victor Scott II. He singled to right, but the ball got past Tatis Jr. and rolled to the wall, and by the time he got to the ball and his throw made it to home plate, all three runners, plus Wetherholt came around to score. It was ruled a single and a three-base error … The Cardinals added two more runs in the inning on an RBI single by Gorman and a sacrifice fly to left … Herrera had a big night, going 4-of-4, all singles, as he extended his on-base streak to 24 consecutive games.
On the mound: After issuing the two walks in the fourth, which loaded the bases with two outs, McGreevy got out of the inning by retiring Miguel Andujar on a grounder to short. He then worked a perfect fifth and sixth innings, with four of the final six outs coming on strikeouts … His previous career high had been seven strikeouts … Gordon Graceffo retired all of the six hitters he faced in the seventh and eighth and Ryne Stanek completed the Cardinals first shutout in San Diego since 2017 with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Key stat: McGreevy set down the Padres in order through the first three innings and in his eight starts, has allowed just 14 hits in 81 at-bats over those 24 innings, a .173 average, with one walk and 19 strikeouts. Two of the three runs he allowed came on solo home runs.
Worth noting: The combined one-hitter was the third one-hitter for the Cardinals in San Diego. The others were complete games, by John Curtis in 1974 and Bob Gibson in 1970 … Cesar Prieto started his second career game in the major leagues, at third base, and went hitless in four at-bats. His other career start came on Aug. 31, 2025 for the Cardinals at Cincinnati.
Up next: Dustin May will get the start on Saturday night in the third game of the series. The game will be televised by Fox, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
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