Yasmani Grandal singles to help San Diego Padres beat St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 – MLB Update
Catcher Yasmani Grandal singles in the sixth as he takes the San Diego Padres ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 at Petco Park, San Diego, California on September 12, 2012 in the last match of the three game series.
Padres were on course before they were unsettled in the sixth by the home-run coming from the Cardinals’ right fielder Matt Carpenter. However they recovered immediately as Grandal singled in the bottom of the sixth to lead the base-runner aboard.
Afterward they just contained the Cardinals and surged to victory.
Pitchers in both teams threw solid innings except on a few occasions when they allowed opportunities for scoring runs.
Padres’ starter Clayton Richard while giving up two runs leaked just three hits which showed the control and command he maintained during the match. He struck-out five in seven innings.
He was fortunate enough to earn relatively better run support from the offence. Unlike Cardinals’ starter Kyle Lohse, he saw three runs posted by the offence on the scoreboard. As a result, he claimed the win.
Other than the starter, Padres’ relievers were terrific on Wednesday. The fact the Padres were leading by just one run meant that Cardinals had every chance to pull off the victory late in the innings.
If it was not for the quality throws during the penultimate innings by the relievers, Cardinals may have run away with the win by striking a home-run.
Relief pitcher Luke Gregerson carried out the closing job for the Padres. As he finished scoreless, he earned the save.
As far as the offence was concerned, Padres counted on Grandal, the second baseman Logan Forsythe and the centre fielder Cameron Maybin for scoring runs.
Forsythe provided the team the lead in the second inning by smacking a home-run. Following him, Maybin doubled in the fifth to strengthen the lead.
San Diego will be heading to play upcoming games with momentum on their side. Although they have many issues which remain to be solved, their confidence can help in getting rid of them in the matches ahead.
The lack of power which was seen on Wednesday from their offence will be concerning for the team officials. They will be ensuring improvements in this area.
Tags: