In his Major League Debut, Cesar Vargas looked like he belongs in The Show. The rest of his Padres teammates … not so much.
Vargas, a 24-year-old native of Puebla Puebla, Mexico, threw 5.0 innings of one-run ball against the Cardinals at Petco Park on Saturday night. St. Louis then scored 10 runs off four San Diego relievers to win the game 11-2.
Vargas had a shutout going in to the 6th inning but gave up a solo home run to Stephen Piscotty that tied the game 1-1. The youngster was pulled for Kevin Quackenbush, who was able to finish the inning with no more damage done. For a while it looked like Quack would thieve himself a win.
The Padres loaded the bases with one out and Alexei Ramirez lofted a sacrifice fly to score Matt Kemp, who hit a pair of doubles in the game, to put the Friars up 2-1. In the 7th inning, however, the Padres bullpen imploded.
Quackenbush put a pair of runners on with a walk and an infield single by Aledmys Diaz (who went 5-for-5 hitting in the 8th spot). Cardinals manager Mike Matheny sent in left-hander Matt Carpenter to pinch-hit for pitcher Michael Wacha so Padres manager Andy Green got lefty Brad Hand from the bullpen.
Hand gave up an RBI single to tie the game 2-2.
So Green went out to get Hand and bring in right-hander Carlos Villanueva to face the right-handed hitting Kolten Wong. Matheny countered with another lefty off the bench, Jeremy Hazelbaker.
Villanueva gave up a 3-run homer to Hazelbaker to put St. Louis up 5-2.
It was just one of those nights where every move went the way of the Cardinals. Even a move that was made months ago worked in favor of St. Louis when, in the 8th inning, infielder Jedd Gyorko returned to Petco Park and ripped a 3-run homer in to the upper deck in left field, one of three hits he had on the night.
It was the first start Gyorko has made since an off-season trade sent him to St. Louis in exchange for outfielder Jon Jay (who went 1-for-3 with a single). Jedd’s blast made it 8-2.
In the 9th inning the Redbirds got three more runs, giving them three in the 7th inning, three in the 8th inning and three in the 9th inning while the Padres only had two runs for the entire game (both on sacrifice flies).
One bit of positive offensive news is 1st baseman Wil Myers had another hit, extending his hitting streak to eight games.
The Padres can still win the series and finish their nine-game homestand with a winning record if they take Sunday’s finale. Colin Rea gets the start against Fallbrook High School alum Mike Leake.
