Cardinals End Padres’ Streak with 8-5 Win

SAN DIEGO, California — The St. Louis Cardinals halted the San Diego Padres‘ six-game win streak with an 8-5 victory on Saturday night. The game took place at Petco Park, where the Cardinals overcame an early 4-0 deficit to score eight unanswered runs.

Pedro Pagés was instrumental in the comeback, hitting a tiebreaking two-run double and a three-run homer to put the Cardinals ahead. Iván Herrera contributed significantly with three hits throughout the night. Starting pitcher Michael McGreevy (3-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings of play.

San Diego initially took control of the game, with Jackson Merrill hitting a solo home run and Freddy Fermin driving in two runs. Merrill’s eighth homer in the third inning put the Padres up 4-0. However, the Cardinals rallied in the fourth inning, beginning with Nolan Gorman‘s single that brought home Willson Contreras. Pagés followed up with his homer against pitcher Randy Vásquez.

After a pitching change, Jeremiah Estrada took over for Vásquez (3-5) as the Cardinals continued their scoring drive. In the fifth inning, Masyn Winn hit a double that extended the Cardinals’ lead to 6-4, driving in two runs.

In the ninth inning, Alec Burleson added another run with an RBI single against Yuki Matsui. Willson Contreras sealed the game with a sacrifice fly. JoJo Romero collected four outs to earn his first save of the season. Despite Fermin’s RBI single in the ninth, Fernando Tatis Jr. flied out to end the game.

Notably, Luis Arraez of San Diego extended the majors’ longest active hitting streak to 15 games with a double in the first. Pagés’ home run traveled an impressive 422 feet, while Merrill’s homer was San Diego’s 93rd of the season — the second fewest in the National League.

The two teams will face off again on Sunday, with Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante (6-7, 4.62 ERA) starting against Padres right-hander Dylan Cease (3-10, 4.79 ERA).