Good, Bad and Ugly: How the St. Louis Cardinals swept the Padres

The St. Louis Cardinals marched to victory over the San Diego Padres, extending their winning streak to eight games.

September baseball is fun once again in St. Louis! The Cardinals won their eighth game in a row Sunday as they swept the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals won Friday 8-2, Saturday 3-2, and Sunday 8-7.

The sweep comes on the weekend the organization was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2011 World Series Championship for the Cardinals.

What a team. What a ride. What a weekend! It was all good. Let’s discuss.

The Good

On Friday, the scoring began with a Paul Goldschmidt single to left field scoring Tommy Edman in the first inning. Tyler O’Neill hit his 27th home run of the season with a line drive to left field, scoring Goldschmidt.

In the fourth inning, Dylan Carlson hit his 14th home run of the season to right field.

In the eighth inning, Carlson blasted his 15th home run with a grand slam to center field scoring Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Yadier Molina. It was as beautiful as the chef’s kiss he gave the crowd giving him a standing ovation.

All Miles Mikolas needs to give a great pitching performance is a “nice sage bath.” He pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three hits and two walks, but he struck out three. This was his first win of the season. It was wonderful to see him give the pitching performance close to what we know he’s capable of.

T.J. McFarland pitched the final third of the sixth inning, giving up two hits and two runs, but ultimately getting that final out. Luis Garcia got his 10th hold of the season, pitching the seventh inning only giving up one hit and one walk. Alex Reyes got his second hold going two-thirds of the eighth inning, giving up one walk but looking effective by striking out two. Genesis Cabrera pitched the final third of the eighth getting out of the inning.

Giving up only one hit, Kodi Whitley looked great pitching the ninth for the Cardinals, striking out one.

On Saturday, the Padres actually had a 2-0 lead going into the eighth inning. Tommy Edman knocked a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Harrison Bader. With Paul Goldschmidt on base, Tyler O’Neil launched his 28th home run to the Padres bullpen. It was beautiful and sent a charge throughout Busch Stadium!

Adam Wainwright kept the Cardinals in the game but struggled Saturday. He pitched six innings giving up seven hits, two earned runs but striking out two. He is now one away from striking out the 2,000th batter of his career. While it would have been amazing to see Wainwright do this at Busch Stadium, home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi had other plans and Wainwright will most likely reach this personal milestone while the team is in Milwaukee this week against the Brewers.

Whitley pitched the seventh inning, giving up two hits and striking out one. Justin Miller earned his first win of the season, pitching the eighth inning.

Giovanny Gallegos was on fire closing out the game in the ninth, striking out one and earning his ninth save of the season.

On Sunday, cameras caught Edmundo Sosa going through the dugout with individual handshakes. It’s pretty awesome.

Things got started with an outstanding catch by Carlson in right field. Fernando Tatis Jr. drove the ball to right and Carlson was able to nab the hit, crashing against the wall.

Things then got rolling for the Cardinals in their half of the first. Arenado reached base on a fielding error by Tatis, allowing Edman to score. Dylan Carlson hit s sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Goldschmidt. Edmundo Sosa then doubled to left field, scoring O’Neill. Harrison Bader then doubled to right field, scoring Arenado and Sosa.

In the fifth inning, Tyler O’Neill singled to center field to score Goldschmidt, extending the Cardinals lead to 6-3. Sosa then doubled on a fly to second base that had been deflected to Wil Myers. O’Neill scored.

In the seventh, the Cardinals got their ultimate game-winning run on a single to center field, scoring O’Neill.

J.A. Happ pitched four innings for the Cardinals giving up four hits, one walk, and three earned runs. He did strike out two. Alex Reyes earned his ninth win of the season, pitching the fifth and sixth innings, giving up a home run to Tommy Pham. He also had one strikeout.

McFarland got his 11th hold of the season pitching the seventh, giving up two hits and one run but striking out one. Luis Garcia had a rough third of an inning in the eighth. He gave up two hits and two runs. Genesis Cabrera earned his 26th hold of the season pitching the final two-thirds of the eighth, giving up only one hit.

Gallegos earned his 10th save of the season, shutting down the Padres with two strikeouts.

The Ugly

The only ugly appeared in the dugout of the Padres on Saturday. Tatis was visibly frustrated with Cuzzi after getting called out on strikes. Cuzzi had a perplexing zone all night, causing a lot of frustration for both teams.

Tatis slammed his helmet in the dugout. At that moment, Tatis and Manny Machado had to be separated. Machado’s message for Tatis was that Cuzzi’s call was not personal against Tatis, telling the star shortstop, “It’s not about you.”

Media and Padres fans were quick to point out that this was Machado exhibiting leadership. His unspoken message is that the team would be worse off with Tatis out of the game, so calm down.

It really wasn’t a great look for either player. Have a look at the video captured by a fan close to the action Saturday.

In conclusion

The Cardinals are now 79-69 on the season. Amazing. The team is firmly in the drivers seat for the second NL wild card position. The Cardinals are three games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies, who are 76-72. They are three games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, who are 77-73, with the Padres now 3.5 games back of the Cardinals at 76-73.

The first wild card position is currently held by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 96-54 record. The Dodgers are in close contention for their division with the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants with a 97-53 record.

Things remaining very exciting in the National League, to say the least.

The Cardinals play a four-game set starting Monday with the Milwaukee Brewers, who clinched the NL Central this weekend. The Cardinals will then have another four-game set that includes a Friday doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs.

This should be an exciting week of baseball for the Cardinals, filled with opportunities to expand their lead for the second Wild Card slot.

This should be fun. Let’s Go, Cardinals!