Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Padres 2
By Rob Rains
Andre Pallante couldn’t quite match the performance of Dustin May 24 hours earlier, but he was good enough to get the Cardinals a second consecutive win over the Padres on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
After May retired the first 18 hitters he faced on Monday night and finished with a one-hitter, Pallante retired the first 14 batters he faced before the Padres got their first baserunner on an infield single.
Pallante ended up allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings in winning for the fourth time in his last five starts.
Pallante turned the game over to the bullpen with a one-run lead and watched Ryne Stanek work a perfect eighth inning before Riley O’Brien, who has struggled lately, worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to complete the victory.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the second. Lars Nootbaar led off with a walk and scored on a two-out double by Blaze Jordan. Jordan then scored on a single by Nathan Church … In the fifth, Ivan Herrera was hit a pitch for the second time in the game and 18th time this season before Alec Burleson singled and Herrera later scored on Nootbaar’s sacrifice fly … Burleson extended his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games … JJ Wetherholt had a three-hit night and also walked, reaching base four times. He also stole his eighth base of the season.
On the mound: The Padres only hit one ball out of the infield before Ty France’s RBI single in the fifth … Pallante got the first two outs in the sixth before Fernando Tatis Jr. singled and scored on a double by Jackson Merrill … Pallante got 11 groundouts and struck out six … Stanek struck out two of the three hitters he faced … In the ninth, O’Brien had to face the Padres top three hitters with a one-run lead and retired Tatis Jr. on a groundout, Merrill on a fly out and after walking Manny Machado, retired Xander Bogaerts on another grounder to earn his 18th save.
Key stat: In the last five games, the Cardinals have received 12 hits in 35 at-bats out of the eighth and ninth spots in the batting order, including the two hits and two RBIs from Jordan and Church on Tuesday night.
Worth noting: At Memphis on Tuesday night, prospect Joshua Baez hit four home runs, driving in seven runs. He now has 23 home runs this season, the most in Triple A. Baez hit a three-run homer in the first inning, a two-run homer in the third inning and solo shots in the fifth and eighth innings.
Up next: The Cardinals will try to complete a sweep of the three-game series against the Padres on Wednesday with Kyle Leahy getting the start. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
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