Padres take advantage of Cardinals' pitching in 5-4 win

[May 15, 2021]    Manny Machado drove in two runs with a pair of hits and the Padres took advantage of 12 walks and three hit batters from St. Louis pitchers Friday night as San Diego defeated the visiting Cardinals 5-4 in the opener of a three-game series.

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter (L) forces out San Diego Padres catcher Austin Nola (26) at second base and throws to first base late attempting to complete a double play during the second inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Four of the Padres batters who drew walks came around to score. San Diego put up two runs in the third and one in the seventh without benefit of a hit, and the Padres drew at least one walk in each of their eight half-innings at the plate. They had only four hits.

Machado was moved to second in the batting order because manager Jayce Tingler wanted a closer link between Machado and leadoff hitter Trent Grisham with four regulars are out of the lineup due to COVID-related issues. Machado responded with an RBI double in the first and a run-scoring single in the sixth -- driving home Grisham both times.

Grisham led off the first with a single off St. Louis starter Johan Oviedo (0-2) and raced around on Machado's double. In the sixth, Grisham drew a one-out walk from Tyler Webb, took second on a wild pitch by Seth Elledge and scored on Machado's second hit of the game.

Those rallies sandwiched a two-run third inning. Oviedo issued three straight walks to Machado, Jake Cronenworth and Tommy Pham to open the inning. Machado scored on a sacrifice fly by Brian O'Grady, and Cronenworth scored on a groundout by Tucupita Marcano to make it 3-1.

In the seventh, O'Grady and Austin Nola drew one-out walks, and pinch hitter Patrick Kivlehan was awarded a hit by pitch (although the ball appeared on video to have been clearly fouled off) to load the bases ahead of a sacrifice fly by Ha-Seong Kim.

Tommy Edman singled leading off the St. Louis fifth against Padres starter Joe Musgrove (3-4) and scored on Yadier Molina's bases-loaded sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. In the eighth, Tyler O'Neill hit a two-run homer off Emilio Pagan to bring the Cardinals to within 5-3.

Musgrove held St. Louis to a run on five hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out five.

Mark Melancon picked up his majors-best 13th save despite giving up a solo homer to Nolan Arenado with two outs in the ninth.

Oviedo allowed three runs on two hits and five walks in two-plus innings. He fanned five.

--Field Level Media

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.