Cardinals-Padres Recap: Cardinals Salvage the Series

The St. Louis Cardinals might not have started the series the way they wanted, but one thing’s for certain, they definitely finished on a high note. The Cardinals dropped the first two games of a four-game series against the San Diego Padres, but were able to salvage the last two games.

The Cardinals began the first game on the comeback trail. By the end of the first half of the fifth inning, the Cardinals were down 3 to 1. The Cardinals however, would retaliate in the fifth inning themselves by scoring two more. Matt Carpenter with a single to center, and Jason Heyward with a double to left. After the fifth inning however, pitching took over. No runs would be scored again until the top of the 11th inning, where the Padres’ Will Venable was able to come off the bench with a pinch-hit two-run home run, sealing the win for San Diego.

The second game of the series wasn’t much different, as the Padres and Cardinals stayed tied until the fifth inning, where Xavier Scruggs grounded into a double play giving the Cardinals a one to nothing lead. The Padres, however, would respond with a home run in the top of the seventh by second baseman Jedd Gyorko. This wouldn’t be the last time the Cardinals were burned by Gyorko either, As he hit a RBI single in the top of the ninth to ultimately give the Padres a 2-1 win. This was another unfortunate game for Michael Wacha, who pitched seven strong innings and only gave up five hits and one run, but ultimately got a no decision due to lack of offense.

I certainly hope you like pitching, because for the third game in a row, the Cardinals and Padres would only put up minimal points to edge out another close victory. The scoring got kicked off by a Padres home run in the fourth inning, but it wouldn’t be long until Matt Carpenter singled an RBI home in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game. Jhonny Peralta would sacrifice rookie Thomas Pham (who happens to be very fast) home in the eighth inning to secure a Cardinals victory.

Speaking of Thomas Pham, he would have an even better game in the series finale. Pham went two for four, hitting his first career home run In the third inning, and then would return to hit a RBI double in the fifth, missing home run distance by a matter of feet. Pham Would go on to have all three Cardinal RBIs for the day, giving the Cardinals a 3 to 1 win over the Padres. Pham May have been able to take care of the offense side, but still had help from Lance Lynn, who threw seven innings while only giving up three hits and one run, which was not even earned. Lynn struck out eight batters to completely shut down San Diego’s offense.

St. Louis Cardinal call ups have been hot and cold lately. With Randal Grichuk on a cold streak, it’s nice to see Thomas Pham coming into his own in the majors. Pham hit two balls extremely hard in the series finale, and hopefully he can continue to do that for the Cardinals heading into the All-Star break.

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