*Photo from AP News*
San Diego wins series 2-1
The San Diego Padres had to use 9 pitchers to get the 27 outs required to win, and they sure stepped up. Craig Stammen got the start, Eric Hosmer drove in two runs, and the Padres shut out the St.Louis Cardinals by a 4-0 score to advance to the NLDS in MLB's Texas bubble. The Padres were without their two aces, Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger, for the wild card round, but they are moving on anyway.
The scoring started in the 5th inning, when Hosmer doubled to left field, scoring Fernando Tatis Jr and making it a 1-0 Padres lead. It stayed that way until the 7th inning, when Jake Cronenworth scored on a fielders choice and error to extend the lead to 2-0. Later that inning, Hosmer drew a bases loaded walk, scoring Trent Grisham and making it 3-0 Padres. In the 8th, Cronenworth hit a solo homer to center field to make it a 4-0 Padres lead, which the bullpen held.
Austin Adams got the win for the Padres, getting one out in the bottom of the 5th to get out of the inning, which was a strikeout. Stammen, the longest tenured pitcher on the Padres, got the start, throwing 1 2/3 innings. Stammen allowed no runs on just one hit. Then came the bullpen carousel, as Tim Hill, Adrian Morejon, Pierce Johnson, Luis Patino, Emilio Pagan, Drew Pomeranz, and Trevor Rosenthal all pitched for the Padres, in addition to Stammen and Adams.
Hosmer praised the total team effort after the game, saying that "It took every guy on this roster to get it done, feels good to be moving on to the bubble in Texas." Manager Jayce Tingler focused his praise on the bullpen, saying that "What those guys did this series and then tonight, wow, I don’t know what to say. They’ve been overworked. They’ve been overtaxed, man to man, everybody came up and said, I'm good, give me the ball."
The Padres did have some fans watching, from the top of the Western Metal Supply Co building, as well as outside the ballpark, and Hosmer described that after the game, saying that "We definitely feel their energy, it'd be nothing sweeter than to see this place sold out, to see the fans going crazy, to see good baseball being played in San Diego at Petco Park. I know it’s unfortunate they can’t be in the stadium. But we definitely feel their energy. We can feel the good vibes coming from them. That’s who we play for at the end of the day. We’re playing to bring a championship back here."
Jack Flaherty started the game for the Cardinals, also getting tagged with the loss, despite his incredible performance. Flaherty threw 6 innings, allowing one run on 6 hits and two walks, striking out 8 hitters. Manager Mike Shildt said of Flaherty's performance that "That’s why Jack’s an ace, that's what they do. He stepped up on a big stage tonight, and he did his part to more than give us a chance. Heck of a job."
Flaherty himself said after the game that "In a game like this, it’s a winner take all, you got to accept the fact that you may lose, you may lose games like this. All you can do is give the best effort you possibly can. If you go out and give the best effort you possibly can, the results are going to be the results. Today, the ball didn’t bounce our way. Guys were out there and they gave everything they had. They gave everything they had all year. That’s what this team was about."
The Cardinals went 0-6 on the night with runners in scoring position, a big reason why they weren't able to crack through against the Padres. Shildt said that "It was one of those games where you’re a hit or two away, and we just weren’t able to get them, they had a plan and executed it."
The Cardinals head home to St.Louis for the offseason, while the Padres head down to the bubble in Texas to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
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