Cards push Miller to the brink in 9th, but come up short for May

SAN DIEGO – The Cardinals pushed Mason Miller close to the edge on Saturday, loading the bases in the ninth inning and even forcing the Padres' fireballer to strike out four batters.

They just couldn’t get that big hit, though, and lost 4-2 on a day when right-hander Dustin May had another quality start.

Miller went to a three-ball count against the first three batters in the ninth, issuing a leadoff walk to Nolan Gorman, striking out Masyn Winn and walking Nathan Church. He struck out Thomas Saggese and Yohel Pozo on seven pitches, but a wild pitch on strike three allowed Pozo to reach to load the bases. Miller then punched out JJ Wetherholt to seal his four-out save.

“If you’re going to lose, that’s what it should look like,” manager Oli Marmol said. “We saw their best today and guys battled, but just being able to actually, like, compete in that last inning. He punched us, but that’s what he does. Still, to force him to throw that many pitches, quick turnaround tomorrow, I’ll take it.”

Miller came on one batter after Iván Herrera hit an RBI double to pull the Cardinals to 3-2 and got Jordan Walker to ground out to end the inning. Manny Machado homered in the bottom of the inning to give the Padres a two-run lead.

“I still feel really good about it,” Marmol said. “I mean, that's what these games need to look like. You're playing a really good team, they’ve got a good bullpen. I thought we battled really well and to force them to use their closer for four outs, I'm all about it.”

Miller threw a season-high 29 pitches.

“We continue to show what we're about, and that last inning is exactly it,” Marmol said. “We came up a hit short, but at the end of the day, man, that's one of the best relievers in the game, I felt like we threw together some decent at-bats.”

May cruised through four hitless, scoreless innings before allowing three hits and a walk in the fifth, starting with Ty France’s home run into the Padres’ bullpen in left-center with one out in the fifth that tied it at 1.

The Padres went ahead on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-run, broken-bat bloop single to right with two outs, which had an exit velocity of 69 mph and a launch angle of 40 degrees.

May kicked himself for walking No. 8 batter Sung-Mun Song after France’s homer and then allowing a single to Freddy Fermin. Both advanced on a passed ball. May struck out Jackson Merrill before allowing Tatis’ big hit.

“Doing that in the fifth inning, bottom of the lineup, uncompetitive walk to the eight hole and then [0-2] ... to Fermin, leaving that slider there, kind of not really what you want to do," May said. I mean, those are the guys you want to go after, you want to attack. Just the situation that you can't have in that kind of a game.”

He went six innings for the third straight start and fifth time this year, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits and striking out a season-high seven against two walks.

May, who spent his first 6 1/2 seasons with the Dodgers, fell to 2-5 lifetime against the Padres, including 2-2 at Petco Park.

“If May continues to give us six innings with two earnies, I’ll take that all day long,” Marmol said. “Sign me up.”

The Cardinals had taken a 1-0 lead on Nathan Church’s RBI double to center field with two outs in the fourth.