Cardinals Beat Padres 6-5 With Late Rally To Cap Four-Game Home Sweep

Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run, game-tying homer in the eighth inning and Aledmys Diaz delivered a walk-off hit to left field in the ninth to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 home victory over the San Diego Padres Thursday night, thus completing a four-game sweep. The Cardinals routed the Padres 10-2 on Monday, and also won both games in Wednesday’s doubleheader after Tuesday night’s meeting was postponed due to rainy weather.

Cardinals Beat Padres 6-5 With Late Rally To Cap Four-Game Home Sweep

After loading the bases with one out, Padres reliever Carlos Villanueva ran the count full before Diaz connected on a fastball, blasting a single to left field for St. Louis’ fourth walk-off win of the season. Center fielder Tommy Pham started the rally with a leadoff single before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, sandwiched by two intentional walks.

“[Diaz is] having a terrific season,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. “You put him up in that situation, Villanueva makes a couple nice pitches behind in the count, off-speed pitches, puts him into a 3-2, and he’s trusting himself right now.”

Yangervis Solarte’s rocket in the top of the eighth put the Padres ahead 5-1, and extended their franchise-record home-run streak to 19 games. However, the Cardinals fought back, scoring four times against San Diego reliever Ryan Buchter to tie it up. Piscotty’s three-run shot into the seats in right-center knotted the score at 5. Piscotty’s homer was the Cardinals’ 49th in the seventh inning or later, the most in the Major Leagues.

“That was a special one, especially with Diaz being able to cap it off with that huge hit,” Piscotty said. “Those things are a lot more fun when you end up winning.”

Right-hander Andrew Cashner, whom the Padres may be seeking to deal before the non-waiver Trade Deadline, demonstrated his talents on Thursday. Over 5 2/3 innings, Cashner allowed just one run on three hits while striking out eight– his second consecutive strong outing amid a flurry of trade rumors.

“What good is worrying about it going to do?” Cashner, who was selected by the Cubs in the first round of the 2008 draft, said of the trade possibilities. “I know I’m going to be traded. It’s just part of the game, part of where the season’s at.”

However, Cashner’s performance was hampered after he struck Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday with a 95mph fastball in the sixth inning. Holliday was tended to by head trainer Adam Olsen, and exited the game with a facial abrasion after he was hit near the left side of his nose and upper lip. The Cardinals later announced there was no fracture and that Holliday would be “day to day.”

The victory gave the Cardinals their first four-game sweep at Busch Stadium since 2010, and their first such sweep over the Padres since 2008. With the win they equaled their high-water mark, at seven games over .500, and sit just 6 1/2 games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs, their smallest deficit since May 23.

“It was great,” Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright said. “It’s not easy to sweep anybody. At this level, to sweep a big league club, especially at home, when we had not played well at home. It was important for us to do that.”

Alexei Ramirez grounded an RBI single to left field, scoring Ryan Schimpf and giving the Padres a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth. This marked the first run Wainwright had allowed in 18 1/3 innings dating back to Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer’s RBI double in the second inning on July 7. Travis Jankowski doubled four batters after Schimpf but was thrown out at third base to end the fifth inning. Wainwright went six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts.

“It’s a lineup you have to make pitches to, and I made a couple bad pitches, but other than that it was pretty sharp,” Wainwright said.

Solarte, who leads the Majors in extra-base hits this month, provided the thump for the Padres, going 3-for-4 with a double. His blast off right-hander Miguel Socolovich made the Padres the first National League team to reach 19 straight games with a homer since the Brewers did so in 2008.

“I have a lot of confidence in this team,” the Venezuelan third baseman said. “I know we have some power on this team. It’s just been a little inconsistent, a little up and down, so hopefully things can all come together at the right time.”

The Padres next begin a three-game series against the Nationals in Washington Friday night. Righty Luis Perdomo will start for the Padres.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will open a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday night, with right-hander Michael Wacha set to take the mound. He gave up six runs (two earned) over four innings in his last outing against the Dodgers, in Los Angeles on May 13. He has a 5.37 ERA in 11 appearances since that start.

ST. LOUIS, MO – JULY 21: Aledmys Diaz #36 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a walk-off single against San Diego Padres in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on July 21, 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)