Busch Stadium- St. Louis

After dropping the first two games of a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Diego Padres were desperate for a win.

The Padres utilized small ball to generate the deciding run in the 3-1 win over St. Louis. San Diego effectively sacrificed runners (They currently lead MLB with 30 sacrifice bunts on the season) and connected with a hit-and-run early in the game. “Just working the small ball like we did tonight,” Bryce Johnson said after the game. “The execution was really good,” Mike Shildt said.

Randy Vasquez went to the mound for the Padres and did his job. The right-handed pitcher went 4 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run on one hit. He threw 67 pitches, but did not complete five innings. The humidity in St. Louis was certainly a factor, but Vasquez left the ball game with the lead. He put the team in a position to win. “Tonight was a team win,” Manager Mike Shildt said in the post-game presser.

There was some drama in the game as Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch for the second night in a row. The benches did not empty as they did earlier in the series, but Contreras was clearly not happy with the inside fastball. In the following inning, Manny Machado was plunked with the first pitch of his at-bat. Both sides were warned.

Adrian Morejon came on to relieve Vasquez in the fifth inning, and the All-Star was effective. The southpaw would go one complete inning, allowing a hit and lowering his ERA to 1.72 on the season. Jeremiah Estrada followed Morejon and went 1 1/3 innings, preserving the 2-1 lead for San Diego through seven innings.

Jason Adam also worked in the game and pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

A fielding error by Victor Scott II in the second inning was the difference in the game. Masyn Winn also misplayed a ball in the ninth inning, which allowed the Padres to add to their lead. Winn booted the ground ball by Fernando Tatis Jr. with the infield in, but he did gather himself to throw Tatis out at first. No error was awarded, but a clean pickup at shortstop may have cut down the third run of the game for San Diego.

Manny Machado earned two hits in the game and is now hitting .294 on the season.

The Padres struggled in the game with runners in scoring position (AGAIN), going 0-for-9 and are now 2-for-29 (.069 batting average) in the series. The Padres are down in the series, but have outhit St. Louis 30 hits to 20 through the first game. They simply are not getting the timely hit, and rallies are non-existent for San Diego.

In the ninth inning, Machado was hit for the second time, and the benches cleared. Machado was angry that Andre Granillo was not immediately ejected. The umpires appeared to have determined that the second hit by pitch was not intentional. A small amount of pushing and shoving occurred as Jon Jay appeared to have said something to Machado. Jay was ejected from the game. “It is part of the game,” Shildt said after the game about the series of events.

Robert Suarez came on in the game, looking for his 30th save of the season. Suarez plunked Willson Contreras with one out in the ninth inning, but no drama occurred as the first baseman simply walked to first base. Contreras has now been hit three times in the series.

Suarez worked his way around the hit batter to retire Masyn Winn on a fielder’s choice to end the game.

Up Next

The Padres and Cardinals battle in the series finale on Sunday.

Stephen Kolek (3-5, 4.28 ERA) will pitch against Michael McGreevy (2-1, 3.49 ERA).

The first pitch is scheduled for 11:15 PT.

James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. James has written about the Padres and their prospects for over a decade. He also writes about San Diego State as well as other local sports. James is the Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.