Sonny Gray allowed just three hits over six innings as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Diego Padres 4-1 on Thursday afternoon, securing a 2-2 split in their four-game series.
Gray (12-9) gave up one run, struck out four, and issued no walks. Ryan Helsley secured the win with his 41st save of the season.
Masyn Winn hit a home run for the Cardinals, who have now won six of their last nine games.
Jackson Merrill’s solo home run provided the Padres’ only run. San Diego remains 1 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the National League’s top wild card spot.
Padres starter Michael King (11-8) allowed two unearned runs on six hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings, striking out three batters.
The Cardinals put pressure on King early. Alec Burleson led off with a single in the first inning, stole second base, and advanced to third on a groundout. Luken Baker walked and also stole second, but King escaped the inning by striking out Brendan Donovan.
In the second inning, Ivan Herrera hit a two-out single, and Victor Scott II added a ground-rule double. King managed to avoid trouble once more by getting Winn to ground out.
St. Louis finally broke through in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Burleson walked, and an error by Padres shortstop Tyler Wade allowed Burleson to advance to third and Nolan Arenado to reach second. Baker then hit a run-scoring groundout, and Paul Goldschmidt added an RBI double.
Merrill’s fifth-inning home run cut the Padres’ deficit to 2-1, marking his 20th homer of the season.
The Cardinals chased King from the game in the fifth inning. Baker walked, Donovan hit a double, and Goldschmidt received an intentional walk to load the bases. Yuki Matsui came in and retired the next two batters to end the threat.
Winn extended the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1 with his 12th home run of the season in the sixth inning.
In the eighth inning, St. Louis increased its lead to 4-1. Lars Nootbaar tripled and scored on a single by Herrera. Scott reached on a bunt single before the Padres retired the next three Cardinals batters.
Source: Field Level Media
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