Padres get one hit in loss to Cardinals, who score six runs in fifth inning
SAN DIEGO - Getting past the fact that the San Diego Padres offense has been among the worst in the major leagues, there has been some excellent pitching the past two evenings at Petco Park.
The difference is that the St. Louis Cardinals have done enough on offense, including a couple fortuitous hits to right field, while the Padres have five hits in all.
On Friday, a pitchers' duel was ruined by a circus act of an inning midgame, and the Cardinals beat the Padres 6-0.
The visitors won Thursday's series opener 2-1, the decisive hit coming in the seventh inning when a flare to right field bounced in front of and then past right fielder Nick Castellanos' attempt at a sliding catch.
In Friday's fifth inning, the Cardinals scored six times on five singles, two walks, a double and a sacrifice fly. While all the runs were earned, because the inning got away from Padres starting pitcher Griffin Canning in a river of hits, there was also an error by right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. that resulted in a Little League grand slam.
A night after getting four hits and scoring their only run on a check-swing single, the Padres' only hit Friday was a single by Jackson Merrill leading off the fourth inning.
The Padres actually made Michael McGreevy throw 26 pitches in that inning, as Gavin Sheets and Tatis drew two-out walks. But Miguel Andujar's grounder to shortstop ended the threat.
The next half-inning was a slow build and then a dam breaking on Canning.
Masyn Winn lined a single through the middle and Nathan Church beat out a chopper to the right side against Canning, who had allowed a pair of singles through the first four innings. After getting a strikeout, Canning walked No.9 hitter Victor Scott II to load the bases.
That is when JJ Wetherholdt grounded a single into right field that Tatis charged in preparation for a throw home, only to run past the ball as it rolled under his glove and to the wall.
There was virtually no doubt from the moment the ball evaded Tatis that Wetherholdt would make it all the way around the bases, which he did.
After another single, a double and a walk, Canning was finished. Yuki Matsui took over with the bases loaded and allowed two runners to score, on a single and a sacrifice fly.
How it looked was indefensible, but losing to the Cardinals on its own is not shameful.
The teams began the game with the same record, at 22-15. The Cardinals took two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers last week.
And being shut down by McGreevy for six innings made the Padres just the latest team he did that to. Friday was his fifth quality start of the season, and he has thrown six scoreless innings in three of his eight starts this season. The 25-year-old right-hander has habitually gone six innings, doing so 17 times in 27 career starts.
But McGreevy (3-2, 2.18) was just the latest starting pitcher to dominate the Padres, who have had 19 quality starts thrown against them in 38 games. It's actually worse than that given that the Colorado Rockies used an opener against them three times.
The Padres entered Friday's game with the fifth-lowest average (.231) and fifth-lowest OPS (.684) in the majors, and they are headed the wrong direction. They are batting .185 with a .669 OPS while losing seven of their past 10 games.
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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 9:41 PM.