Padres offense fails to capitalize, lose 6-3 in St. Louis

The San Diego Padres traveled to St. Louis after an exciting walk-off home run on Sunday to clinch the series against Pittsburgh. 

Monday was yet another low-scoring result for the Padres as they failed to put up more than four runs for the seventh straight game. This was the first Padres game with more than seven total runs since May 22. 

The first of three in St. Louis and the beginning of a seven-game road trip ended in a 6-3 loss for the Padres. 

The Padres were able to string hits together throughout the game but were unable to capitalize, as the Cardinals’ insurance runs essentially put the game away. 

The Padres totaled 11 hits in the game and went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position, but left a lot of runners stranded on first throughout the game. 

Nick Martinez was on the mound for San Diego, hurling a quality start in a 93-pitch, six-inning outing where he allowed three runs on seven hits, four walks, and struck out two. Packy Naughton was the spot starter for the Cardinals, going 2.1 innings and allowing one earned run. 

The Padres struck first in the third inning. A Jose Azocar one-out double took Naughton out of the game, and Jurickson Profar singled to center immediately off of Andre Pallante to give San Diego a 1-0 lead

Nolan Gorman, who had three hits on the day for the Cardinals, hammered a two-out changeup 403 feet to right to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. 

San Diego was able to get runners on in the fourth as Jake Cronenworth and Austin Nola both singled, but a Trent Grisham strikeout stranded both. 

Martinez got into a bit of a jam in the fifth, allowing three straight singles and a walk to start the inning to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead, but an infield fly and a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning with a lot of potential for St. Louis. 

The Padres cut the lead in half in the sixth as Cronenworth doubled and Nola singled to left to make it a 3-2 game, but Grisham struck out to strand his third and fourth runners of the game. 

The game went away when Steven Wilson entered in the seventh for Martinez. Wilson forced a quick groundout then Gorman singled. Paul Goldschmidt drilled a fastball 414 feet to left to make it a 5-2 game. A walk and a Yadier Molina RBI double gave the Cardinals a four-run cushion before Tim Hill came in and ended the inning with a strikeout. 

The Padres made it interesting in the ninth inning with an Azocar walk and a Profar single. Manny Machado, who went 1-for-5 in return from his two-game absence, singled to center to make it a three-run game. Eric Hosmer came up as the tying run with one out and hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. 

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San Diego walked only twice in the game and struck out 13 times, but four Padres had multiple hits: Profar (3), Cronenworth (2), Nola (2), and Azocar (2). Azocar scored two of the Padres’ three runs, as well as having an outfield assist. 

San Diego now sits 30-18. Tuesday’s game is set for a 4:45 PT first pitch. Blake Snell (0-2, 6.00 ERA) is set to start against 40-year-old Adam Wainwright (5-4, 3.12 ERA).

Bobby Murphy

Bobby is an Arizona State University alum and majored in Sports Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fall 2023. Bobby is from San Diego, loves to write, and has a deep passion for baseball, football and basketball. He has co-hosted the “Devils Talking Padres” podcast and was a digital reporter and photographer for Cronkite News/Arizona PBS. He also broadcasted high school and junior college football games in Arizona as a play-by-play and color commentator.