Cardinals find offense, eye series win vs. Padres
After managing just one in 30 innings, they suddenly exploded for four in the fourth inning, got two more in the fifth and went on to a much-needed 8-5 win over San Diego that snapped the Padres' six-game winning streak.
That gives St. Louis a chance to earn a series victory in San Diego on Sunday when the teams finish the weekend set, as well as the season series.
To be sure, the Cardinals ran into good pitching this week and two hot teams.
Miami shut down St. Louis with Sandy Alcantara and Cal Quantrill - 5-0 on Tuesday and 2-0 on Wednesday night - while San Diego's Nick Pivetta allowed only one hit in seven innings on Friday night, a 4-1 Padres win.
Still, a struggling team needed something good to happen. By piecing together four hits in the fourth and following up with Masyn Winn's two-run double in the fifth, St. Louis got back to .500 and crawled within 5 1/2 games of the Padres for the last wild-card spot.
Part of the reason was because of the guys president John Mozeliak kept at Thursday's trading deadline. He wasn't bowled over by offers for All-Star Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson, so he chose to keep them.
The quartet made important contributions Saturday night, including Gorman's RBI single that started the four-run fourth and Burleson's run-scoring single in a two-run ninth.
"We were not motivated to move hitters that we had under control unless we were blown away," Mozeliak said. "And we just weren't."
Andre Pallante (6-7, 4.62 ERA) looks to follow up on a strong start in Monday night's 7-1 win over Miami. He blanked the Marlins on one hit and one walk in seven innings, striking out four. Pallante is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in six career outings against San Diego.
Opposing Pallante will be Dylan Cease (3-10, 4.79), who had a no-decision on Monday night in his team's 7-6 win over the New York Mets. Cease allowed five hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings, walking five and fanning nine. He's faced the Cardinals just twice in his career with no record and a 7.84 ERA.
Most thought Cease would be traded at the deadline as the Padres looked to fortify their offense and get a return on a free agent-to-be. But Cease stayed and is happy general manager A.J. Preller didn't pull the trigger.
"I'm very excited," Cease said on Friday. "We made a lot of - obviously - a lot of moves. We've got a stacked team now, so I'm grateful to be a part of it."
Cease's start Monday night was a microcosm of his season: Short stretches of dominance mixed in with lapses in control and ill-timed home run balls. A fifth-inning grand slam by Mark Vientos drove him from the mound, although San Diego rallied to take Cease off the hook.
The Padres have averaged 5.7 runs over their last seven games with Luis Arraez and Manny Machado leading the way. Arraez has a career-high 15-game hitting streak and Machado boasts 20 hits in his last 42 at-bats, bumping his average to .301, which leads the National League.
--Field Level Media
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