A day after the San Diego Padres saw their offense put up seven runs in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, they suffered a shutout. Despite outhitting the Cardinals 11-5, the Padres dropped the second game of their four-game series, 3-0.
The Padres sent Nick Pivetta to the mound hoping he would continue his season-long success that has seen him reach double digit wins on the year. More often than not, Pivetta has looked like the ace of the San Diego staff and has been the pitcher most likely to snap
or prevent a losing streak. That was not the case at Busch Stadium, Friday.
Pivetta pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Those types of numbers are not uncommon for a Pivetta start, but what hurt him was a hit batter in the bottom of the second and back-to-back walks in the bottom of the fourth.
Nick Pivetta strikes out 4 batters across 6 1/3 innings in his start against the Cardinals
— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) July 26, 2025
Padres @ Cardinals#ForTheFaithful | July 25, 2025 pic.twitter.com/4g9z2EBmh6
Willson Contreras led off the bottom of the second and was hit by a pitch, which allowed him to reach first base. Contreras was not happy about being hit and he and Pivetta exchanged words and benches cleared before cooler heads prevailed and the game resumed without incident.
Nolan Arenado reached on a fielder’s choice and Jake Cronenworth was charged with an error on the play despite the ball deflecting off the second base bag. With runners at first and second, Masyn Winn laid down a sacrifice bunt that allowed Contreras and Arenado to move to third and second.
The Padres had the infield in and Pivetta got the ground ball he was looking for, but Xander Bogaerts was unable to make a clean play and throw home to get Contreras to prevent the run from scoring. But Bogaerts was able to throw to first to get Yohel Pozo for the second out of the inning. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead and were unable to add to their total before Pivetta got the third out of in the second the secknd.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Pivetta got a fly out for the first out of the frame. He then walked Contreras and Arenado to put runners at first and second. A wild pitch from Pivetta got past catcher Elias Diaz, who failed to retrieve the ball quickly and he missed an opportunity to make a play on the base runners, who eventually reached second and third safely.
Winn then delivered a line drive double that scored Contreras and Arenado to put St. Louis ahead 3-0 in the fourth.
Masyn Winn with a 2-RBI double. Cardinals up 3-0. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/uovu55OdmQ
— Cardinals Dude (@Turn2Dude) July 26, 2025
The mistakes on defense for San Diego carried over to the offensive side. Jackson Merrill and Bogaerts were at second and first, respectively in the top of the fourth inning. Gavin Sheets flied out to right field and Merrill tagged up and advanced to third base. Bogaerts also tagged at first base and tried to advance to second, but the throw from Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker went to second well ahead of Bogaerts and the result was a double play with a runner on third. Cronenworth struck out to end the inning and Merrill was stranded.
San Diego outhit St. Louis in the game 11-5, but finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals finished 1-for-9 with RISP.
The Padres will look to snap their four-game losing streak against the Cardinals, Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
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