ST. LOUIS — Sonny Grey logged six robust innings in his finest begin of the second half, permitting simply three hits and one run within the Cardinals’ 4-1 victory over the Padres on Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis (67-67) earned a cut up of the four-game set with surging San Diego, which is 26-11 because the All-Star break. The Padres (76-60) maintain the second NL Wild Card spot — eight video games forward of the Playing cards.
The lone run Grey allowed was on a house run by Jackson Merrill, which has been a difficulty. That’s the thirteenth homer Grey has allowed because the All-Star break, however solely the fifth he’s yielded at Busch Stadium this season.
That’s one thing Grey and pitching coach Dusty Blake have been working laborious on between begins, supervisor Oliver Marmol mentioned pregame.
“They dove into it fairly a bit, a breakdown of what they suppose’s occurring with location and every thing,” Marmol mentioned. “They go into it fairly deep. It’s undoubtedly a subject that you simply undergo to be sure to’re not lacking something.
“[Gray] loves that facet of it, simply analyzing and ensuring he’s not lacking something, both. It’s a very good collaboration with him and that division.”
The Cardinals didn’t make the most of each prime scoring alternative towards the Padres within the finale, however the one time they did proved to be sufficient.
After Alec Burleson drew a stroll to steer off the underside of the third, Nolan Arenado fired a pointy one-hopper (94.2 mph exit velocity) proper at San Diego shortstop Tyler Wade, who simply missed the ball, because it skipped deep into the left-center hole. Burleson hustled to 3rd and Arenado rolled into second with none out.
Burleson scored on a groundout by Luken Baker and, after Brendan Donovan grounded out to Manny Machado at third, Paul Goldschmidt got here by with the two-out RBI double.
It’s been a battle for the previous MVP in related conditions this season; Goldschmidt entered the sport batting simply .174 with a .502 OPS with runners in scoring place. That was simply his second double — and fourth extra-base hit — with RISP all season.
