ST. LOUIS -- Early offense can go a long way toward putting a team in position to take advantage of a few mistakes. Padres hitters combined to go 0-for-24 in the first four innings on Monday and Tuesday night, so a first-inning run Wednesday afternoon came as a breath of fresh air.
San Diego managed to add on just enough to avoid a sweep, securing a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium before continuing on to Texas for the final stop on a three-city road trip.
“Whoever scores first has definitely got an advantage,” said manager Craig Stammen. “We’ve struggled a lot in the first inning this year, and to get a run in the first feels really good in the dugout.”
Bradgley Rodriguez served as an opener in front of Griffin Canning, who turned in one of his top performances of the season. It was the third time this year that Canning allowed just one run, and despite covering just 4 1/3 innings, his insertion as a reliever allowed him to secure his first win as a member of the Padres.
“I felt like I was attacking the zone a little bit better,” said Canning. “Just keeping the team in the game and giving us a chance to win, and then the bullpen came in and did their thing and the offense got some big runs there.”
A fourth-inning double by Manny Machado, who drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly, set up Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single, and San Diego expanded the lead to three runs in the fifth on the first of two major St. Louis mistakes. A sharp line drive to center by Fernando Tatis Jr. was misjudged by Nathan Church on a gusty day at Busch Stadium, transforming a potential out into an RBI double for another insurance run.
In all, six Padres reached base in the game’s first four innings. While San Diego wasn’t able to get into the St. Louis bullpen any earlier than the seventh inning, they arrived there having already built a lead that their own bullpen was able to comfortably hold. That was made easier after Tatis smacked an RBI single and Jackson Merrill crushed a two-run homer to cap a three-run ninth inning.
“I knew [it was fair],” Merrill said with a laugh of his homer, which was upheld after review. “I think I might’ve got tossed if they called it foul.”
Stammen added: “You get two of those guys going at the same time and that produces some runs. That’s what we’ve been lacking a little bit. We’ve been hitting OK, but we just haven’t been able to score the runs. Getting those two guys hot, being able to hit in those types of situations which they’re really good in typically, it’s only going to bode well for our offense.”
Lefty Kyle Hart, recalled for this series after Mason Miller was placed on the bereavement list, was the beneficiary of the second Cardinals misplay. He relieved Canning in the sixth after Canning walked Masyn Winn, and Nelson Velázquez came to the plate as a pinch-hitter for left-handed-hitting Jimmy Crooks. Winn, however, got slightly too aggressive in his attempt to break for second, and Hart picked him off before striking out Velázquez to neutralize the jam.
“[Hart] brings that element when a guy’s on first that’s a base stealer,” Stammen said. “He has the ability to control the running game really well. He’s reading that runner, and if that runner takes off, he can make his pick-off move. That was a huge play in the game.”
From there, Jason Adam worked a scoreless eighth and Adrian Morejon closed the door to seal a win in the finale.
Carrying some offensive momentum -- some early in the game, some late -- into Arlington to face the Rangers is essential for a Padres team which spent the first two games of this series clawing uphill without being able to kick the offense into gear. San Diego jumped ahead early Wednesday by going 5-for-14 with a walk and two runs scored in the first four innings.
The bombastic ninth inning put the icing on the cake, but it was much easier to reach that point in the game without having to struggle quite so hard to keep their heads above water.
“Every game, our goal is to get out [to a lead] early, so sometimes it hurts when we’re not,” Merrill said. “Good job today to bounce back after the last two days.”