Cardinals crush five homers in rout of Padres

[May 12, 2018]  The St. Louis Cardinals teed off on Padres pitchers Friday night at Petco Park in San Diego.

Paul DeJong's three-run homer in the second off Padres rookie left-hander Eric Lauer was the first of five home runs hit by the Cardinals in a 9-5 win over the Padres.

Four of the home runs came against Lauer in 2 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Luke Weaver (3-2) shut out the Padres on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts over five innings to get credit for the win.

Marcell Ozuna and former Padre Jedd Gyorko opened the second with singles when DeJong drove a changeup on the ninth pitch of a duel with Lauer 398 feet to left-center for his eighth homer of the season.

The home run snapped a string of 11 straight scoreless innings worked by Lauer.

Then in the third inning, Harrison Bader, Ozuna and Gyorko all homered off Lauer.

Bader opened the inning with his second homer, a 396-foot drive to left. After Lauer retired Jose Martinez on a fly to right, Ozuna pulled a 371-foot homer into the left field corner.

Then Gyorko struck with a 410-foot drive into the second deck in left. It was the infielder's eighth homer against his original team. He went 3-for-5 Friday night and is now 21-for-42 as a Cardinal against the Padres.

Cardinals starting pitcher Luke Weaver (7) pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

DeJong got his career-high fourth RBI in the fifth with a run-scoring single against Bryan Mitchell, who was making his first appearance out of the Padres bullpen after losing his spot in the rotation. Tommy Pham made it 9-0 in the sixth with a two-run homer off Mitchell.

Lauer (1-2) allowed six runs on seven hits (including the four home runs) and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Mitchell allowed three runs on six hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings.

The Padres scored five times against the Cardinals bullpen on run-scoring doubles by A.J. Ellis and Jose Pirela (his first extra-base hit since April 15), a triple by Franchy Cordero and Travis Jankowski's first homer of the season leading off the ninth. St. Louis reliever Luke Gregerson also balked in a run in the final frame.

--Field Level Media

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