Padres avoid sweep salvaged by big offensive performance against Cardinals

ST. LOUIS - Despite starting the week having lost the opening two games and the season series to the Cardinals, the San Diego Padres will depart from St. Louis with something to build on. 

Not only did they avoid being swept with a 6-1 win on Wednesday but they managed to get contributions from everybody that stepped on the field at Busch Stadium. The club finished the game matching their season-high with 14 hits, and all but Ty France registered a hit. 

Instead, France did showcase why he is a Gold Glove recipient during the bottom of the ninth inning by snagging Xander Bogaert's off-line throw at first base and twisted his arm around to tag out Masyn Winn for a 6-3 double play.

Offensively this is the type of game the Padres want to have more often than not, especially out of their core-four of Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado and Bogaerts. The unit combined 9-for-17 with two doubles, a home run and drove in all six runs. Another element that aided San Diego was their ability to start early in the inning, as they posted five base-hits from their lead-off batter. 

During the previous two games of the series, the Padres only had seven batters reach on base, today they had 18. 

Padres Manager Craig Stammen, who has been recently voicing his concern over the team's lack of offensive power, decided to put the "spark plug" Samad Taylor in the two-hole in the batting lineup, and his decision managed to pay dividends. Taylor finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs including the game's opening run in the first inning after Machado's sac-fly to right field.  

"We've struggled a lot in the first inning this year," Stammen said. "To get a run in the first felt really good in the dugout. And especially this series. The first two games took us a while to even get a baserunner. So to get a baserunner and put a run across the board definitely helped morale, gave us some confidence to swing the bat freely the rest of the game."   

Machado got on-base again with a double to lead-off the fourth inning and was brought around to score to make 2-0 following a ground ball single by Bogaerts. 

Tatis Jr. increased the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning after his 111 mph double off the bat went over the head of Nathan Church to score Will Wagner, who singled and advanced to second base on a wild pitch from Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy. 

The Padres loaded the bases during the eighth inning after Merrill and Gavin Sheets singled and Bogaerts got hit by a pitch. France would leave them stranded after lining out to left field. 

However, the offense reignited for a three-run inning during the ninth, starting with a single from Sung-Mun Song (replaced Wagner at second base during the seventh inning). A batter later, he scored a run to make it 4-1 after Tatis Jr. posted his second RBI following his single but was called out trying to stretch it to second base. 

Taylor extended the inning with a single and later stole second base. After an umpire review, Merrill was awarded his eighth home run of the season, connecting on a low and very tight sweeper that just went inside the foul pole to blow it open at 6-1. 

The Padres went with an identical approach to Monday's contest by beginning the game with a reliever for an inning before turning it over to a starting arm. On the bump, Bradgley Rodriguez (1-2, 2.10 ERA) threw a 17 pitch scoreless opening frame. Right-hander Griffin Canning (1-5, 6.64 ERA) took over the mound in the second inning and he would go 4 1/3 on 77 pitches. 

Canning, unlike most of his starts for the Padres, was impressive and displayed his best performance of the season, as he earned his first win in a Padres uniform. What really helped Canning was his ability to control counts early on and found ways to mix up his pitches. 

He didn't have to deal with a lot of traffic on the bases with the only time where he dealt with a high leverage situation was in the fifth inning where he gave up a walk and single to the Cardinals eighth and ninth hitter (Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church). Canning managed two get two massive outs against JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera, but Alec Burleson connected on a four-seam fastball to put St. Louis on the board for the only time today. Canning finished with an earned run on four hits, three walks and two strikeouts. 

Left-handed reliever Kyle Hart would come in with a runner on first and one out during the sixth inning to replace Canning. Hart avoided any conflict with the inherited runner with an underrated play by catching Winn stealing second base for the second out and striking out righty Nelson Velázquez for the last out. 

"He brings that element," Stammen said. "Wehn a guy's on first and is base stealer. He has the ability to, you know, control the running game really well... There's a part of that is like, you know, he's better at it than the other lefties. And you're not hoping somebody's on base when he's doing it, but he does bring that element into the game." 

Hart pitched another scoreless inning, as did Jason Adam in the eighth and Adrian Morejon in the ninth to close it out.

As much as the offense will get credit for the win, some of the praise should definitely be directed toward the arms, who entered the game not having their closer Mason Miller or reliever Ron Marinaccio, who is serving a two-game suspension. 

The Padres will have to replicate this performance, as they head to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers for the last part of their nine game road stand. 

"Guys on base all day," Stammen said. "It's nice after the first two games here. I think we've been trending in the right direction. The first two days made us doubt that a little bit, but I think those guys showed that they're starting to get back on track. A few balls fall in, creates a little bit of confidence, a little bit of good feeling, and then we can take the rest from there." 

Following their day off on Thursday, the opening game of the series will be on Friday with a 5:08 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander Randy Vásquez will be on the mound while the Rangers haven't announced a starter yet.