Yu Darvish allowed eight runs in his fourth start of the season and that proved to be too much for the San Diego Padres to overcome as they suffered a 9-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, Thursday.
Darvish was handed a 2-0 lead before he too the mound in the bottom of the first. The Cardinals responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame and the Padres saw their lead cut to 2-1. San Diego did not score in the top of the second and Darvish returned to the mound with the lead.
By the time he walked off the mound St. Louis was comfortably in front.
Darvish had two outs with Jordan Walker on base. Darvish allowed a two out walk to Victor Scott II, which moved Walker to second. Both runners scored when Brendan Donovan hit a three-run home run to right field to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.
Brendan Donovan - St. Louis Cardinals (9)
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) July 25, 2025
pic.twitter.com/RnxMU3Y2pr
Darvish then allowed a single and a double before Willson Contreras hit the second three-run home run of the inning to put St. Louis up, 7-2. Darvish got Nolan Arenado to ground out to end the scoring and the inning.
Willson Contreras - St. Louis Cardinals (14)
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) July 25, 2025
pic.twitter.com/En6fQFpWWK
San Diego provided a quick response with Fernando Tatis Jr. opening the top of the third inning with a solo home run to right-center field to make the score 7-3.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado go deep and the @Padres are right back in this game pic.twitter.com/L344TNca51
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2025
Louis Arraez followed Tatis Jr. with a double and Manny Machado brought him home with a two-run home run to make the score 7-5.
Manny Mash pic.twitter.com/kZ3CBtjC2q
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 25, 2025
The Cardinals addd a run to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ivan Herrera singled to score Scott II to make the lead 8-5 for St. Louis. That run ended the night for Darvish who had a final line of 3 1/3 innings pitched with eight runs allowed on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
San Diego added two runs in the top of the fifth inning when Jackson Merrill scored on a Gavin Sheets RBI-groundout to make the score 8-6. Xander Bogaerts went from second to third on the play. Bogaerts would later score when Bryce Johnson reached on a throwing error to make the score, 8-7.
The Cardinals were able to add a run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Herrera hit a solo home run off reliever Wandy Peralta to make the score 9-7.
Iván Herrera - St. Louis Cardinals (9)
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) July 25, 2025
pic.twitter.com/gMuR3O5kVE
The top four batters for the Padres, Tatis Jr., Arraez, Machado and Merrill, finished the night a combined 10-for-19 with six runs scored, five RBI and a walk and four strikeouts. The bottom five spots in the San Diego lineup were a combined 3-for-22 with one run scored, one RBI and eight strikeouts.
The Padres play the Cardinals, Friday at 4:15 p.m.
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