Cardinals 2, Padres 1
ST. LOUIS -- It was a day of firsts for rookie center fielder Tommy Pham, culminating in a streak-stopping victory for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Moved to the leadoff spot as manager Mike Matheny shook up his lineup Saturday, Pham scored both runs as St. Louis ended a four-game losing skid with a 2-1 verdict over the San Diego Padres at sold-out Busch Stadium.
After reaching base on an error by shortstop Alexi Amarista to start the eighth, Pham stole second and moved to third on a groundout.
Pham then turned a fly ball by shortstop Jhonny Peralta into the winning run, barely beating the strong throw from right fielder Will Venable with a head-first slide.
It made a winner of reliever Seth Maness (3-0), who used only six pitches to retire the side in order in the eighth. Trevor Rosenthal picked up his 24th save in 25 chances.
Brandon Maurer (5-1) was tagged with the loss for San Diego (39-44), which won the first two games of this series by limiting the Cardinals (52-28) to four runs.
Matheny's changes, which involved moving second baseman Kolten Wong to the sixth spot and dropping left fielder Randal Grichuk down to seventh, didn't result in an offensive outburst.
St. Louis was outhit, 9-4.
But Pham delivered one of those hits, a leadoff double in the sixth that represented his first major league hit, and then scored on a single by third baseman Matt Carpenter to tie the game.
Neither starter got a decision despite pitching well.
Padres right-hander Odrisramer Despaigne went five-plus innings, allowing four hits and a run, with one walk and three strikeouts.
Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez gave up eight hits and a run over 6 2/3 innings, walking two and fanning five.
San Diego scored first on a leadoff home run in the fourth by third baseman Yangervis Solarte, his fourth of the season, but left eight runners on base and went 0-for-5 with men in scoring position. NOTES: St. Louis recalled RHP Mitch Harris from Triple-A Memphis, opting to go with 13 pitchers as it plays 10 games in the last nine days before the All-Star break. Harris was 1-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 16 games earlier this year for the Cardinals. ... July 4 has traditionally been a successful day for San Diego, which is an MLB-best 12-4 on Independence Day, dating to 1998. ... To make room for Harris, St. Louis optioned INF Greg Garcia to Memphis. Garcia went 5-for-12 in 10 games with the Cardinals, hitting a pinch home run on June 26 against the Chicago Cubs.