Arenado sparks Cardinals to 5-2 win over Padres

Updated Jun. 1, 2022 4:17 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer and drove in three, Dakota Hudson threw seven strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

Nick Wittgren earned his first save by getting the last out of the game when he retired pinch-hitter Robinson Canó on a fly ball with the bases loaded.

The Cardinals have won five of six games. The Padres have lost four of five.

Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 23 games and reached safely for a career-best 37th consecutive game. Goldschmidt went 1 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored. He is hitting .353 this season.

Hudson (4-2) gave up a run in the first inning but shut out the Padres over the next six innings. He allowed one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Yu Darvish (4-3) pitched 7 2/3 innings, giving up five runs and seven hits.

Arenado’s 10th home run came after Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak with a one-out single in the sixth. Arenado sent an 0-1 fastball over the left-field fence, giving St. Louis a 3-1 advantage.

Goldschmidt’s career high hit streak is 26, from Sept. 10, 2013 to April 4, 2014 with Arizona.

In the eighth, Arendado chased Darvish with a run-scoring single with two outs. He scored on a double by Juan Yepez, who drove in two runs.

Yepez' first RBI made it a 1-1 tie in the fourth. His sacrifice fly scored Goldschmidt, who drew his second walk to begin the inning. He went to third with aggressive baserunning on a single by Arenado. Goldschmidt’s streak of reaching base safely since April 22 is the longest streak in MLB this season.

San Diego scored a run in the first on an RBI single by Manny Machado. Jurickson Profar led off the game with a double.

The Padres' second run came in the ninth on a one-out homer by St. Louis native and former Cardinals slugger Luke Voit off reliever Kodi Whitley. With two outs, Whitley gave up a single and then walked to two, loading the bases for Wittgren.

DEFENSIVE GEM

CF Harrison Bader dived head first and hit the grass as he caught a shallow fly by Ha-Seong Kim in the first inning with two outs and runners on second and third base.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: OF Matt Beaty (left shoulder impingement) was temporarily shut down in his rehab assignment and was sent to the team’s training facility in Arizona.

Cardinals: 2B Nolan Gorman (lower back tightness) missed his second consecutive game. The 22-year-old rookie is hitting .387 since he joined the club May 20. He can swing a bat but bending over to field causes some pain. ... LHP Steven Matz (shoulder impingement) has played catch twice. His likely next move will be to throw two side sessions. If there are no setbacks, Matz may have a short rehab outing or return to the Cardinals on a limited-pitch basis. ... RHP Alex Reyes (shoulder) was slated to undergo surgery Wednesday that's likely to end his season. ... RHP Jordan Hicks (forearm flexor tendon) has several days to wait until he can begin throwing.

UP NEXT

Padres: LHP Sean Manaea (2-3, 4.02) will face RHP Adrian Houser in Milwaukee. Manaea pitched seven innings against Pittsburgh in his last start, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five. He did not factor in the decision.

Cardinals: LHP rookie Matthew Liberatore (1-0, 3.72) will face the Chicago Cubs and RHP Keegan Thompson (5-0, 1.58) for the first time. Liberatore earned his first MLB win by tossing five scoreless innings of two-hit ball with six strikeouts in an 8-3 victory against Milwaukee.

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