Michael McGreevy and two relievers combined on a one-hit shutout Friday night as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals scored all their runs in the fifth inning of a 6-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.
McGreevy (3-2) gave up a leadoff single to Jackson Merrill in the fourth and two walks while fanning nine in his second straight six-inning shutout performance against an NL West opponent. He blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night during his team’s 3-2 victory.
Griffin Canning (0-1) was matching McGreevy pitch-for-pitch until a disastrous fifth. Canning surrendered seven hits and six runs over 4 1/3 innings, walking two and whiffing five.
The game turned on a bases-loaded chance for each team. San Diego had its opportunity after Merrill’s single. Two-out walks to Gavin Sheets and Fernando Tatis Jr. loaded the bases but McGreevy induced a groundout from Miguel Andujar.
In the fifth, the Cardinals filled the sacks on singles from Masyn Winn and Nathan Church, plus a one-out walk to Victor Scott II. JJ Wetherholt grounded a single to right that scored Winn and Tatis overran the ball. It rolled to the warning track for a three-base error and a 4-0 lead.
Ivan Herrera singled, one of his four hits on the night, and Alec Burleson doubled. Jordan Walker walked and Nolan Gorman greeted reliever Yuki Matsui with an RBI single to right. Winn capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to left.
St. Louis pitchers didn’t throw a stressful pitch over the last five innings, retiring the last 16 batters they faced. The Padres have managed only five hits in the series’ first two games after collecting 20 in Tuesday night and Wednesday wins in San Francisco.
Burleson and Church finished with two hits each for the Cardinals, which stretched their road winning streak to six games and have won nine of their last 11 games. It was the seventh loss in 10 games for San Diego.
