The Padres didn't come away with as many runs as they should have in Wednesday's series finale against the Cardinals, but they did get enough to avoid the sweep.
Kyle Higashioka hit his first homer as a Padre in the 3-2 win.
It was an eventful afternoon for Higashioka - who came to town as part of the Juan Soto trade to the Yankees. The veteran catcher thwarted two base-stealing attempts by the Cardinals in the fourth to limit St. Louis to one run despite three hits in the inning.
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The Padres also left plenty of meat in the bone, particularly early in the game. Xander Bogaerts singled to lead off the game, followed by a Fernando Tatis Jr. walk. Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado each flew out. Ha-Seong Kim worked a walk against Cardinals starter Zack Thompson. Jurickson Profar followed suit for the game's first run. Eguy Rosario struck out to diffuse the threat.
It was a similar story in the second frame, with Jose Azocar and Bogaerts each logging hits. A fielders choice grounder from Tatis sent the lone run of the inning across.
After two innings the Padres led 2-0, but had gone 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left four on base.
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Fortunately, Joe Musgrove had far and away his best start of the season. After allowing nine total runs over 8.1 innings his first two appearances, the Grossmont High grad posted his first quality start of 2024 - six innings, one earned run and seven strikeouts.
Musgrove faced three batters each of the first three innings. The smooth sailing ended in the fourth when he allowed three hits, including a Nolan Arenado RBI single that made it a 3-1 game. St. Louis got two aboard in the fifth and sixth but Musgrove got a double play ball off the bat of Jordan Walker in the fifth, and fanned Arenado to end his day one inning later.
The Cardinals pushed one more across in the eighth thanks to an error on Bogaerts, whose throw to first got by Cronenworth on a failed double play attempt.
Robert Suarez sealed the victory with a five-out save. The Padres have Thursday off before another showdown with Bob Melvin's Giants, this time in San Francisco.
