ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals finally had a game where they got big hits when they needed them – and got a much-needed win over the Padres.
Three consecutive two-out hits in the ninth inning, the final one from Nolan Arenado, snapped a 3-3 tie and gave the Cardinals the win on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
Masyn Winn got the winning rally started with his two-out single, followed by a single by Victor Scott II. With Luken Baker on deck, the Padres could have walked Arenado to load the bases but instead elected to pitch to him and he knocked a 1-1 pitch into center field to score Winn from second with the winning run.
The Padres had tied the game in the eighth on a home run by Kyle Higashioka off JoJo Romero after the Cardinals had protected a 3-2 lead from the fourth inning to the eighth.
Here is how Wednesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals came back from a 2-0 first-inning deficit to take the lead in the fourth. Baker had an RBI double, Brendan Donovan drove in a run on a groundout and Paul Goldschmidt singled in a run, one of his three singles in the game … Ten of the Cardinals' 11 hits in the game were singles and they went 3-of-6 with a runner in scoring position, with all three hits driving in a run.
On the mound: Andre Pallante allowed the two runs in the first inning, but then kept getting out of trouble without allowing any more runs to score as he worked into the sixth inning … The Padres had 10 hits but were only 1-of-10 with a runner in scoring position and left 10 runners on base, including leaving a runner on third in the ninth inning against Ryan Helsley when he struck out Manny Machado to end the inning.
Key stat: Following his three-hit game on Tuesday night, this is the first time Goldschmidt has had three hits in consecutive games since he did it in three games in a row from Aug. 18-20, 2022.
Worth noting: Lefthander Quinn Mathews was promoted again Wednesday, this time from Double-A Springfield to Memphis. Mathews began this season at low Class A Palm Beach and has now shot through four levels of the farm system in five months a year after he was the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft out of Stanford … Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby, two of the other top pitching prospects in the organization, both started on Wednesday night. Hence, still working with a limited pitch count, allowed one run and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings at Wichita while Roby, who has been out most of the year because of a shoulder issue, made a rehab start for Palm Beach and retired all three batters he faced in his one inning.
Looking ahead: Sonny Gray will get the start in the series finale at 1:15 p.m. on Thursday as the Cardinals try to earn a split of the four-game series.