Wednesday’s match report: Cardinals 4, Padres 3
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals finally had a game where they hit big when they needed it – and earned a much-needed win over the Padres.
Three consecutive hits with two outs in the ninth inning, the last by Nolan Arenado, broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Cardinals the win Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
Masyn Winn opened the game-winning rally with his two-out single, followed by a single by Victor Scott II. With Luken Baker on, the Padres could have given Arenado a walk to load the bases, but instead they chose to give him the pitch, and he hit a 1-1 pitch to center field, allowing Winn to score the winning run from second base.
The Padres tied the game in the eighth inning with a home run by Kyle Higashioka against JoJo Romero after the Cardinals had defended their 3-2 lead from the fourth to the eighth inning.
This is how the game went on Wednesday evening:
On the plate: The Cardinals overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit to take a lead in the fourth. Baker had an RBI double, Brendan Donovan scored a run on a groundout and Paul Goldschmidt scored a run on a single, one of his three singles in the game… Ten of the Cardinals’ 11 hits in the game were singles, and they hit 3 for 6 with a runner in scoring position, with all three hits scoring a run.
On the hill: Andre Pallante allowed two runs in the first inning, but then kept getting out of trouble without allowing any more runs until he fought his way through the sixth inning… The Padres had ten hits but only 1 of 10 with a runner in scoring position and left ten runners on base, including a runner on third base in the ninth inning against Ryan Helsley when he struck out Manny Machado to end the inning.
Important statistics: Following his three-hit game on Tuesday night, this marks the first time Goldschmidt has had three hits in consecutive games since he did so in three straight games from August 18-20, 2022.
Noteworthy: Left-hander Quinn Mathews was promoted again Wednesday, this time from Double A Springfield to Memphis. Mathews began this season at Lower Class A Palm Beach and has now cycled through four levels of the farm system in five months a year after being selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2023 draft out of Stanford… Tink So and Tekoah Roby, two of the organization’s other top pitching talents, both started Wednesday night. So, still working a limited number of pitches, allowed one run and struck out six strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings in Wichita, while Roby, who has been out most of the year with a shoulder problem, made a rehab start for Palm Beach, striking out all three batters he faced in his one inning.
Outlook: Sonny Gray will start the series finale at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, where the Cardinals will try to tie the four-game series.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
Post-match interview by Oliver Marmol:
