Cardinals’ overcome deficit, end Padres six-game winning streak
Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego- Petco Park
San Diego dropped game two of the series against St. Louis after an explosion of the Cardinals’ offense. Key multi-run-scoring hits from Pedro Pages and Masyn Winn brought the Cardinals back from a four-run deficit. Although Ramon Laureano and Freddy Fermin collected their first RBIs in Padres jerseys, the pitching implosion was too much to overcome. San Diego’s offense fell victim to effective ground ball pitching, neutralizing any hopes of a comeback.
Randy Vasquez made the start for San Diego, his 22nd of the season. Vasquez entered the day with a steady 3.65 ERA across 103.2 innings of work. Quietly, he’s been the Padres’ second-best arm in the rotation, making every start and limiting hard contact.
Opposing Vasquez for St. Louis was right-hander Michael McGreevy. McGreevy, 25, checks in as the Cardinals’ No. 9 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Across 33 innings in 2025, his ERA is floating just under five, at 4.91.
The first inning was an inning full of “justs”. The Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan just missed a leadoff home run to right field. Then, Ivan Herrera just powered a double past Jackson Merrill in center. Then, on the Padres’ side, Luis Arraez just snuck a ball down the line to double, and extend his now-15-game hitting streak. Manny Machado just missed a home run and was just barely gunned down trying for two. After it was all said and done, the Padres led 1-0 on the long RBI single by Machado.
Vasquez’s early innings showed an interesting development. Both his control and velocity were visibly and statistically lacking. However, his pitch movement improved on nearly all of his offerings. The trade proved helpful for Vasquez, who was able to miss barrels efficiently enough to throw up zeroes on the scoreboard.
After going 0-4 in his Padres debut the night before, Ramon Laureano made his first splash as a Padre. Against an inside sweeper, he somehow managed to get inside of the pitch and sent it to right. Bouncing down the line to the corner, Xander Bogaerts scored from first, and Laureano cruised into third. Then, on-base specialist Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, and newly acquired catcher Freddy Fermin knocked a grounder for an run-scoring groundout in his debut.
Ramon Laureano is a San Diego Padres
— Padres Nation (@NationPadres) August 3, 2025
San Diego kept the pressure on, scoring in each of the first three innings. This time, it was Jackson Merrill, who connected on his eighth home run of the year. After seeing some of McGreevy’s hard stuff, Merrill mashed a center-cut fastball 415 feet to center field.
However, St. Louis battled right back in the fourth, in emphatic fashion. After on a Willson Contreras leadoff double, Nolan Gorman batted him in to score the Cardinals’ first run. However, things spiraled quickly as Pedro Pages came to the plate. Suddenly, a misplaced curveball turned into a game-tying, three-run home run for the Cardinals’ catcher. Vasquez escaped the inning afterwards, but not without surrendering the Padres’ four-run advantage.
Pedro Pagés PUNISHED this baseball! pic.twitter.com/ejr0Y3KAQQ
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 3, 2025
Due to this, Vasquez exited the contest in the fifth inning yet again. Therefore, Jeremiah Estrada was called on to handle the frame. To the Padres’ concern, he walked the first batter he faced on four pitches— and nearly did it again. He opened his at-bat against Contreras with a 3-0 count; however, he fought back big time. He located two fastballs and induced a chase of his slider for strike three. Afterwards, he made quick work of Lars Nootbar, striking him out on four pitches.
However, Estrada couldn’t complete the escape act. Contact specialist Masyn Winn looped a double down the left field line and into the corner. The two-bagger plated a pair, after the relay to gun down Alec Burleson was dropped by Freddy Fermin at the plate. The play gave the Cardinals a sudden 6-4 advantage on the scoreboard and put pressure on the Padres’ offense.
Michael McGreevy came back out in the fifth inning to face the Padres lineup for the third time. Luis Arraez singled to set the table, although a double play by Machado erased the threat. To end the frame, Jackson Merrill took a curveball that appeared outside— but turned out as strike three.
Wandy Peralta continued his under-the-radar success, working a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He picked up back-to-back strikeouts and induced his bread-and-butter ground ball for the third out. On the other side, Michael McGreevy picked up the same breakdown of outs. He got Bogaerts to ground out and then struck out Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano to keep the Padres quiet.
Kyle Leahy was the first out of the bullpen for St. Louis and induced more ground balls. Groundouts from Cronenworth and Fermin were the Padres’ 11th and 12th of the night through seven innings. He came back out for the eighth and picked up another grounder and a strikeout. Up next was JoJo Romero, who came on to face Jackson Merrill to get the final out of the inning. Merrill won the left-on-left matchup, singling to left, but Romero was able to retire Bogaerts just a pitch later.
In the top of the ninth inning, Yuki Matsui was called on to keep the deficit at two. Unfortunately, his disappointing season continued. Victor Scott and Brendan Donovan singled, and Ivan Herrera was hit by a pitch. That set the table for an RBI single from Burleson and a sacrifice fly from Contreras. The Cardinals took an 8-4 lead, pushing San Diego into a deeper hole.
In the Padres’ last chance, Jose Iglesias walked, advanced on a groundout, and came around to score on a single by Freddy Fermin. With the lineup turning over— and the deficit cut to three— San Diego had some life. However, Fernando Tatis Jr. sent a deep fly ball out to right that fell just short of the wall. Nootbar made the grab to secure the final out, and the Cardinals took the 8-5 victory.
San Diego will look to secure the rubber match tomorrow against St. Louis. The Padres will roll out with Dylan Cease, who will face the Cardinals’ Andrew Pallante. First pitch will be at 1:10 PM.
A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a public baseball media account covering around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X. Willy is set to attend the Cronkite School of Journalism in the fall of 2026 at Arizona State University, where he’ll pursue a major in sports journalism.