The San Diego Padres (22-15) look to bounce back in game two of a four-game set against the St.Louis Cardinals (22-15).  

After a very poor offensive performance in a 2-1 loss, the Padres looked to get their first win in the series at Petco Park against the Cardinals on Friday night.

On the mound for San Diego was Griffin Canning, who is made his second start with the club. Throwing for St.Louis wass Michael McGreevy, who is having a great start to the year with a 2.52 ERA.

La alineación del viernes.

?: https://t.co/WtqPJHNDQY pic.twitter.com/ruQNGH5jjO

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 8, 2026

Unbelievable error hurts Padres in the fourth

Through four innings, both teams were locked in a pitcher’s duel.

The Cardinals stranded the Padres with bases loaded, and they made them pay for not cashing in. To start the top of the fifth inning, Masyn Winn and Nathan Church got singles off of Canning. But Canning would bounce back and strike César Prieto out for the first out of the inning. He then administered a walk to Victor Scott III, bringing up the rookie JJ Weatherholt with bases loaded. Weatherholt got a hold of a changeup, driving it to right field, which ended up rolling by Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s glove all the way to the wall, which ended up being a little league grand slam as Weatherholt would score on the error.

JJ WETHERHOLT LITTLE LEAGUE GRAND SLAM pic.twitter.com/PpszOOTqdG

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 9, 2026

However, the Cardinals weren’t done yet. Ivan Herrea got his third hit of the game on a single. Alec Burelson gets a double, moving Herrea to third. Then a walk to Jordan Walker. Bases loaded once again, and that would close out Griffin Cannings’ night, which started promising. He finished with four and a third innings pitched, giving up seven hits, two walks, six runs (all earned according to MLB), and getting five strikeouts. Yuki Matsui would come in for his first action of the season. He gave up a hit to Nolan Gorman, which brought across the fifth run of the inning to start his outing. Masyn Winn would hit a sac fly to left field, bringing in another run and getting the second out. Freddy Fermin would throw out Jordan Walker trying to steal third to close out the fifth. Padres trail 6-0.

Michael McGreevy dominates the weak Padres offense

New day, same disappointing performance from the Padres’ offense. Michael McGreevy is just the latest starter to have success against them. Only having trouble on the basepath in the bottom of the fourth, which also included the first and only hit he gave up on the night. McGreevy had his changeup on full display the whole night, keeping Padres batters off kilter and getting weak contact. McGreevy would finish the night with six innings pitched, giving up one hit, zero runs, two walks, and grabbing nine strikeouts.

Yuki Matsui has a solid first appearance, and the Cardinals close out game two

One tiny bright spot from the game is Yuki Matsui. He might have allowed two runs after coming in relief for Canning, but you have to give him some grace with being dealt bases loaded one out in his first appearance of the season. He went two and two-thirds innings pitched, giving up three hits, zero runs, one walk, and notching two strikeouts.

St. Louis would end up closing this one out pretty stress-free and is one game away from taking the four-game set in San Diego. Cardinals win 6-0 as the Padres have five hits in eighteen innings of baseball in this series after only getting one tonight, and are on the verge of losing their third series in the last four.

Time to start having some real conversations about the offense

The offense has been an alarming development all year. The late-inning heroics were able to mask the problem in the earlier part, but it was obvious that if the team wouldn’t be able to generate early offense, it was going to be hard to win every game with late scoring. After game one of the Cubs series, the Padres were ten games above .500. Since then, the team is 3-7. No late-game heroics, and look what has started to happen. With an injury-riddled starting rotation, the offense has to be better at making their job easier, and so far, it has been uninspiring, with low effort at-bats from the superstars and too much expectation on the depth guys to make noise every day. Something needs to change quickly; while they have a winning record, whether that’s in the approach or the philosophy.

Looking ahead for the Padres

The San Diego Padres (22-16) will continue playing the St. Louis Cardinals (23-15), with game three being on Saturday, May 9th at 4:15 PM PT at Petco Park. San Diego will have Randy Vasquez towing the rubber to square off against former Dodger Dustin May for St. Louis. The Padres are still looking for their first win in the series.

Wyatt Dearen

Hi Padres fans, I’m Wyatt Dearen. I am from Farmington, New Mexico, which is home to one of the most prestigious high school baseball tournaments in America, the Connie Mack World Series. When it comes around, I do color and statistics for the radio. I am currently pursuing a degree in Sports Administration at the University of Houston #GoCoogs. I have been a sports fan my whole life, following all the major sports leagues since I could walk, and it has been my dream my whole life to work in sports. Thankful to write about the team and for the East VillageTimes.