Cardinals outslug Padres in 9-7 win back at Busch Stadium

By MATT PIKE

The St. Louis Cardinals outslugged the San Diego Padres, and used a big second inning, to win their first home game of the second half of the MLB season 9-7 at Busch Stadium on Thursday evening.  

The Padres took the lead in the first inning behind two runs as Luis Arraez doubled to drive in Fernando Tatis Jr after his leadoff single.  Arraez later scored in the inning on an RBI single by Jackson Merrill.  In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinals cut that lead to one run as Willson Contreras doubled, driving in Brendan Donovan after he led off the Redbirds half of the inning with a single, ending the inning with the Cardinals trailing 2-1. 

After a scoreless second for the Padres, St. Louis blew things open in the bottom half scoring six runs, starting with a big three run home run from Donovan, scoring Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II to give the Cardinals the lead.  After Iván Herrera and Alec Burleson doubled, Contereas drove in three more runs, hitting the second three run homer of the inning to bring home both Herrera and Burleson, putting St. Louis up 7-2 at the end of the inning. 

The ball kept soaring in the third inning, this time off the Padres bat, as Tatis Jr led the inning off with a solo home run.  And after a double by Arraez, Manny Machado cut the Cardinals lead to two runs hitting a two run home run to center field.  St. Louis got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth, Scott leading the inning off with a walk and stealing second before scoring on a single by Herrera, to put the Cardinals up 8-5.

The game would get even closer in the sixth inning, with the Padres cutting the lead to one.  After Merrill singled, and Xander Bogaerts doubled to put two runners in scoring position, Gavin Sheets grounded out to drive in Merrill.  Later in the inning, with two outs, Bryce Johnson reached first on a throwing error by Contreras, allowing Bogaerts to come home and score with the Cardinals unable to get out of the inning.  Leading by one run after the inning, the Cardinals got the only run of insurance they needed in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a solo home run by Herrera.

Sonny Gray earned the win, improving to 10-4 on the season, pitching five innings and giving up seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits while striking out five.  Ryan Helsley, a potential trade target as the trade deadline nears, earned his 20th save striking out two and giving up one hit.  At the plate, Herrera was 3-for-4 with a walk and a home run, driving in two runs.  Contreras was 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a home run, driving in four.  

St. Louis and San Diego continue their series tomorrow.  Miles Mikolas (5-7, 5.20 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Nick Pivetta (10-2, 2.81 ERA) for the Padres.  First pitch is at 6:15 with coverage beginning around 6:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM). 

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.