Cardinals 8, Padres 5
SAN DIEGO -- Matt Carpenter broke a 5-5 tie with a run-scoring triple in the eighth inning and Randal Grichuk added a two-run double as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to defeat the San Diego Padres 8-5 in the rubber match of a three-game series at Petco Park.
The Cardinals had tied the game in the sixth on back-to-back homers by infielders Jedd Gyorko and Aledmys Diaz, the seventh and eighth hitters in the St. Louis order, in a span of five pitches off reliever Kevin Quackenbush.
Pinch-hitter Matt Adams opened the St. Louis eighth with a single off Padres reliever Brandon Maurer.
Third baseman Carpenter then hit a liner into the right field corner to score Adams and break the tie. After Maurer retired right fielder Stephen Piscotty on a liner to right, he intentionally walked Brando Moss to face Grichuk.
The center fielder hit a line drive to left center that scored Carpenter and Moss.
Left-hander Kevin Siegrist (3-0) picked up the win for St. Louis. Trevor Rosenthal recorded his fifth save. Maurer (0-1) took the loss.
Former Padre Gyorko was 6-for-11 for the series with two homers, a triple, four RBIs and a run scored. Diaz was 9-for-11 with a homer, two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored.
The Cardinals took early 2-0 and 3-2 leads against the Padres, who twice battled back to tie the game before taking the lead with two runs in the bottom of the unusual fifth.
But the Padres lead lasted exactly five pitchers as struggling Padres reliever Kevin Quackenbush served up back-to-back homers to the only two hitters he faced opening the sixth -- Gyorko and Diaz.
Gyorko, who tormented his previous team the last two games of the series, drove a 2-and-0 pitch from Quackenbush 384 feet into the right-field stands for an opposite-field homer. Diaz took a strike then launched a 400-foot liner to left.
It marked the second straight game that Quackenbush gave up a lead to the Cardinals. Over his last six relief appearances, Quackenbush has given up nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits, including three homers and four walks.
St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on back-to-back singles off Padres right-handed starter Colin Rea by Grichuk and catcher Yadier Molina.
The Padres halved the deficit in the bottom of the second on back-to-back singles by infielders Alexei Ramirez and Jemile Weeks off right-handed Cardinals starter Mike Leake and a sacrifice fly by catcher Christian Bethancourt.
The Padres tied the game in the third when first baseman Wil Myers singled with one out, moved to third on a ground-rule double by right fielder Matt Kemp and scored on left fielder Melvin Upton Jr.'s ground out to short.
Gyorko opened the fourth with a triple to right and scored on Leake's one-out single. But the Padres again tied the game in their half of the inning on Bethancourt's first homer as a Padre.
The Padres scored twice in the fifth that opened with center fielder Jon Jay reaching on Gyorko's throwing error at second. Myers drew a walk which led to a controversial call.
Kemp hit a grounder to Carpenter for what looked like a routine 5-4-3 double-play. But Myers was ruled out at second for making an illegal slide and Jay was sent back to second.
Upton drove home Yay with the tie-breaking run on a single to left. After Leake hit third baseman Brett Wallace with a pitch, shortstop Ramirez singled home Upton.
NOTES: Padres prospect C Austin Hedges was placed on the seven-day disabled list at Triple-A El Paso with a hand contusion. Hedges suffered the injury while swinging, although a bone scan showed he did not suffer a broken hamate bone as feared. ... Padres LHP Robbie Erlin played catch Sunday four days after being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left forearm strain. ... Cardinals OF Matt Holliday was out of the lineup Sunday, getting his standard break in a day game after a night game.