Padres 8, Cardinals 0
SAN DIEGO -- Matt Kemp and Justin Upton each had a two-run hit in a seven-run seventh inning and Ian Kennedy pitched six shutout innings Saturday night as the San Diego Padres defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 at Petco Park.
The win was the Padres' fifth straight and ninth in the last 11 games, moving them to one game of .500 for the first time since they were 32-33 on June 14 -- the day before Bud Black was fired as manager.
Kemp's two-run single extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Upton followed with a two-run double. Rookie center fielder Travis Jankowski also had two RBIs in his second major league game.
Jankowski and pinch-hitter Alexi Amarista each had two hits and a RBI in the seventh as the Padres sent 11 men to the plate and turned a 1-0 pitching duel into a rout.
Kennedy allowed seven hits and a walk while striking out 10 in six-plus innings. Five relievers combined to finish the Padres' fourth shutout of the season.
After stranding runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, the Padres turned a leadoff triple by catcher Derek Norris into a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
Norris' drive to right center shot past Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham and rolled to the fence. Second baseman Cory Spangenberg followed with an infield single, but Norris held at third. Norris also stayed at third when Spangenberg moved to second on Kennedy's sacrifice bunt.
Norris then scored on Jankowski's groundout to second. Jankowski, who has batted ninth in each of his first two major league games, became only the seventh player in Padres history to drive in a run in each of his first two games.
Before the fourth, the Padres failed in three scoring opportunities.
First baseman Yonder Alonso doubled with one out in the first and never advanced. The Padres had two on and none out in the second and couldn't score. And Upton's two-out double put Padres at second and third with two outs in the third, but second baseman Jedd Gyorko struck out to end the threat.
Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez had two of the team's first four hits against Kennedy. His infield single after Pham's double in the fifth put runners at the corners with one out. Kennedy then threw a called third strike past Matt Carpenter -- drawing a reaction from the second baseman that led to his quick ejection by plate umpire Chris Segal -- and struck out left fielder Stephen Piscotty swinging to end the threat.
NOTES: Matt Carpenter made his fourth start of the season at second base for the Cardinals Saturday night as slumping Kolten Wong got a night off. Manager Mike Matheny hinted Wong, who had started111 games at second, might get more than one day off. But Wong entered the game in the fifth after Carpenter was ejected by plate umpire Chris Segal for protesting a called third strike. ... LHP Marco Gonzalez, who won two games in the Division Series last October against the Dodgers, allowed six hits over five shutout innings for the Cardinals' Triple-A Memphis affiliate to get his first win of 2015. ... Regular 2B Jedd Gyorko started his second game at shortstop for the Padres Saturday. ... LF Justin Upton got the 600th RBI of his career Friday night against the Cardinals. ... The Padres scored their 500th win at Petco Park Friday. The Padres are 500-450 at home since the downtown facility opened in 2004.