San Diego led by two heading into the ninth, and that was close enough to be uncomfortable. Three runs later, it wasn't. The Padres finished off the Cardinals 6-1 at Busch Stadium, with a late burst sealing a game that had been competitive deep into the evening.
Jackson Merrill was the offensive anchor for San Diego, going 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBI. His two-run shot to right in the ninth — measured at 423 feet — extended the lead to 6-1 and removed any remaining doubt. Merrill is hitting .213 on the season with 8 home runs and 30 RBI. Fernando Tatis was equally productive, going 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, including a run-scoring double in the fifth. Xander Bogaerts added 2 hits and an RBI, and Manny Machado drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first.
San Diego scored in the first when Machado's sacrifice fly to right brought Samad Taylor home. Bogaerts singled to right in the fourth, scoring Machado to push the lead to 2-0. Tatis doubled to center in the fifth, plating Will Wagner for a 3-0 advantage. St. Louis answered in the bottom of the fifth when Alec Burleson singled to right, scoring Nathan Church to make it 3-1. The Cardinals could not add to that. In the ninth, Tatis singled to right to score Sung-Mun Song, and Merrill followed with his homer, scoring Taylor and closing out the scoring at 6-1.
Kyle Leahy absorbed the loss, falling to 5-4. He allowed 3 runs on 7 hits over 6.0 innings, striking out 7 and walking 1 on 81 pitches, with a 4.63 ERA. Griffin Canning earned his first win of the season, improving to 1-5 despite a difficult line: 4.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts on 77 pitches. His ERA stands at 6.64.
The loss snapped St. Louis's two-game winning streak; the Cardinals stand at 40-31, second in their division. San Diego dropped to 37-35, also second in its division, and has now lost two straight.