Saturday’s Game Report: Padres 4, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals managed to avoid seeing Padres closer Mason Miller in the first two games of their series in San Diego, but they weren’t as fortunate on Saturday night.
Miller entered the game with the Padres leading by a run with two outs in the eighth and earned the four-out save, but not without a little drama.
Manny Machado’s homer off Matt Svanson in the bottom of the eighth gave Miller a two-run lead, and he almost needed that extra cushion.
Even though the Cardinals did not get a hit off Miller, they loaded the bases in the ninth thanks to two walks and a wild pitch on strike three to Yohel Pozo but JJ Wetherholt took a 102 miles per hour fastball for a called strike three that ended the game.
It was Miller’s 12th save of the season, breaking a tie with the Cardinals’ Riley O’Brien for the most saves in the National League. He actually recorded four strikeouts in the ninth, thanks to the wild pitch.
Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth before Masyn Winn grounded into a double play, but a double by Nathan Church scored Jordan Walker with the first run of the game … They did not have another baserunner until Wetherholt was hit by a pitch with one out in the eighth, and he scored on a double by Ivan Herrera … Herrera’s two-hit night extended his on-base streak to 25 consecutive games … Church also had a two-hit night … The Cardinals were just 1-of-10 with a runner in scoring position.
On the mound: Thanks to a scoring change that took away an infield hit by Xander Bogaerts and charged Winn with an error, Dustin May did not allow a hit until Ty France homered with one out in the fifth. May gave up a two-run single to Fernando Tatis Jr. later in the inning, when the Padres recorded three of their five hits in the game.
Key stat: Prior to the home run by France, the Padres had just one hit in a span of 50 at-bats covering parts of the three games against the Cardinals that stretched back to an infield single by Tatis Jr. in the seventh inning on Thursday night.
Worth noting: The eighth and ninth-place hitters in the Cardinals’ lineup. Thomas Saggese and Pedro Pages, were a combined 0-of-6 which extended their combined hitless streaks to 43 at-bats, no hits in his last 25 at-bats for Saggese and no hits in his last 18 at-bats for Pages … Top pitching prospect Liam Doyle recorded a career-high strikeouts over five innings Saturday night for Springfield. He allowed two runs on five hits and did not walk a batter … Memphis catcher Jimmy Crooks hit his 12th homer, the second-most in Triple A so far this season.
Up next: Kyle Leahy will get the start on Sunday in the finale of the four-game series.
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