Machado, Merrill power Padres past Cardinals in 7-4 win

After a 2-2 series split with the New York Mets in San Diego, the Padres traveled to Busch Stadium to take on the St. Louis Cardinals for another four-game set against a playoff-bidding team.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol gave the veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson the start for the series opener, entering play with a 4.22 ERA over 136.1 innings. 

The Padres jumped on the board early with two outs in the first inning. First, Gibson hit Jake Cronenworth with an inside cutter. Then, Manny Machado made it hurt and smashed a 420-foot home run to dead centerfield, giving San Diego a 2-0 lead.

For Padres skipper Mike Shildt, Randy Vásquez got the start after being recalled from Triple-A El Paso earlier in the day. In Vásquez’s last start on August 8, the right-hander surrendered three earned runs in 5.2 frames.

However, Vásquez bounced back and twirled a gem against St. Louis, tossing six innings of two-earned run baseball.

The Cardinals cut the San Diego lead in half in the bottom of the second when Paul Goldschmidt singled home Brendan Donovan. However, the resilient Friars struck back in the top of the third courtesy of Jackson Merrill; with the bases loaded and two outs, the rookie smacked a two-RBI single to left field, plating Jurickson Profar and Machado for a 4-1 Padres lead.

Again, St. Louis cut the Padres lead in half in the home side of the fourth inning as former Friar Matt Carpenter scored Iván Herrera on a sacrifice fly. Nevertheless, San Diego stayed hungry and added two more.

With a double down the left field line, Machado collected his third RBI of the night and scored Profar before Xander Bogaerts plated Cronenworth on a sacrifice fly to center to give San Diego a 6-2 advantage. 

Marmol went to southpaw Matt Liberatore first out of the pen to face Merrill in a left-on-left matchup with one out and Machado on third. Despite the favorable Cardinals matchup, Merrill delivered on the tenth pitch of the at-bat and lined an RBI single to center field to score the third Padres run of the frame. 

With the final run charged to Gibson, the St. Louis starter surrendered seven earned runs on five hits over 4.1 innings.

Shildt went to two left-handers to relieve Vásquez in Adrián Morejón and Tanner Scott, who combined for two innings with one run charged to Morejón. Despite a non-save situation ahead 7-3, closer Robert Suarez tossed the ninth and shut the door after allowing a two-out run via an Alec Burleson RBI single for the 7-4 Padres win.

Machado gave his thoughts on Merrill and Vásquez, the winning pitcher, post-game with Padres broadcasters Don Orsillo and Mark Grant.

“It’s been fun watching him (Merrill) play,” Machado said. “Learning a new position. Going out there and playing gold glove defense. He’s just an all-around great player.”

“He (Vásquez) goes out there, and he knows what he needs to do. Go out there and compete. Give us as many innings as you can. He did that tonight.”

Max Schwartzberg

A San Diegan born and raised, Max Schwartzberg is a diehard Padres fan who created and hosts the YouTube channel Padres Previews, a hub where he passionately delivers Padres news, updates, reactions, and hype videos. At Northeastern, Max broadcasts and writes for baseball, basketball, and hockey. Max dreams of following in the steps of Padres broadcaster and Northeastern alumnus Don Orsillo to become a Major League Baseball announcer.