Cardinals Recap: Tommy Pham scores twice in win
A lineup tweak helped the St. Louis Cardinals throw the brakes on a four-game skid, propelling the club past San Diego Padres, 2-1, on Saturday.
With things tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Jhonny Peralta delivered the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to right field.
Down in the count 0-2, the St. Louis shortstop slapped the ball the other way, allowing youngster Tommy Pham to race home from third, getting a hand in under the tag of catcher Derek Norris and give the Cardinals the lead.
In the ninth, Trevor Rosenthal shut the door on the Friars for his 24th save – lowering his earned run average to a sterling 0.70 clip.
St. Louis right-hander Carlos Martinez turned in yet-another outstanding start, and has now not allowed more than three earned runs in an outing since May 9.
San Diego (39-44) got its only run in the top of the fourth, when Yangervis Solarte took Martinez deep for a solo blast, his fourth homer of the year.
The Cardinals answered back in the bottom of the sixth, when Matt Carpenter drove in Pham with a run-scoring single after the young outfielder recorded his first big league hit with a double.
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Before scoring the go-ahead run in the eighth, Pham reached on an error. He then swiped second base – his first big league stolen base – then moving to third on a ground ball.
St. Louis (52-28) was out-hit by a 9-to-4 margin on Saturday, and went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
What’s Next:
The Cardinals will welcome the Padres back to Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. CT.
Lance Lynn (5-4, 2.74) is slated to toe the slab for the Redbirds and he will be opposed by Ian Kennedy (4-7, 4.86) – who has been the target of several trade rumors of-late.