Manny Machado has taken his share of criticism for his play on the field and his comments in the media throughout the 2026 season, but if not for the veteran third baseman the San Diego Padres would have been no-hit by Dustin May who led the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 win over the Padres in the series opener at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Monday. Not only did Machado break up the no-hit bid by May, he was the only San Diego player to record a hit in the game – and that was the only hit he had.
May was dominant against the Padres and the San Diego lineup looked flummoxed throughout the game. The Padres only chance to attempt to score a run in the game, other than someone hitting a home run, came in the top of the seventh inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a walk, which was the only walk allowed by the St. Louis starter. Tatis was able to advance to second on a groundout by Jackson Merrill, which brought Machado to the plate with a runner in scoring position. Machado came through with a single, but Tatis was unable to score because the ball was hit through the left side of the infield and Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar got to the ball quickly and got it back to the infield. The Padres had runner at the corners with one out, but May got Gavin Sheets to ground into a double play to end the inning.
San Diego started the game with Wandy Peralta on the mound serving as the opener. Peralta made quick work of the first three St. Louis hitters in the first inning and handed the ball to Lucas Giolito who came into the game in the second inning in the bulk relief role. He completed five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts, but it could have been worse. Merrill took a home run away from Alec Burleson to leadoff the bottom of the fourth inning, which kept the game tied, 0-0. Giolito then struck out Jordan Walker for the second out of the inning, then he allowed back-to-back singles before allowing a two-run double to Jimmy Crooks to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead over the Padres. The Cardinals tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the two runs in the fourth were all they needed thanks to a complete-game one-hitter from May, who also struck out nine San Diego hitters en route to the win.
The Padres will have a chance to even the series with a win today when they meet the Cardinals at 4:45 p.m.
Padres News:
- After being hit in the head by a warmup pitch from reliever Yuki Matsui, Freddy Fermin landed on the seven-day concussion list and Blake Hunt was called up from Triple-A El Paso to serve as the backup to Rodolfo Duran.
- The Padres announced prior to the start of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals that closer Mason Miller was being placed on the bereavement list and that Kyle Hart was being recalled from Triple-A El Paso.
- Ron Marinaccio and Craig Stammen were each suspended for Marinaccio hitting Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson.
- Bryce Johnosn cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week and returned to the Padres system where he was sent to the minors.
Baseball News:
- Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle and the Chicago Cubs earned a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.
- Colt Keith hit three home runs and led the Detroit Tigers to a win over
- Miguel Rojas comes off the bench to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
