There wasn't much that the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff could do on Monday night as the San Diego Padres slugged their way to an 11-3 win.
San Diego started off quickly, pounding starter Jaime Garcia for four runs on seven hits in only three innings. Shelby Miller came in to relieve him and didn't fare much better, giving up two runs of his own on four hits in three more innings of play. The Cardinals got two runs in the second inning thanks to a Peter Kozma triple, but couldn't keep up with the two-runs-an-inning pace that the Padres were putting up.
Kozma ended up providing the only real entertainment of the evening from a Cardinals perspective, going 4-5 with a very good chance at hitting for the cycle. He needed a home run in the ninth inning to get it, but instead could only manage his second double of the game.
St. Louis got a great opportunity to get back in the game when they loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but couldn't drive anyone home. The Padres tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning, added three more in the eighth inning, and held on for the win.
With a close race in the NL, the Cards can't afford to drop many more games to teams like the Padres if their Wild Card hopes are to come true. They'll get their chance for revenge on Tuesday at 9:05 p.m. CT.
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