Padres 9, Cardinals 0: Redbirds lay a goose egg

The Padres' fifth consecutive win looked like it was going to be a pitchers' duel for the first six and a half innings. Ian Kennedy looked the sharpest he has all season, and Carlos Martinez held the Friars to a single run over the first two thirds of the game. But in the pivotal seventh inning, the San Diego bullpen stepped up and the Cardinals imploded.

Kennedy was on his A-game tonight. In six innings and change, he held St. Louis to seven hits and one walk while striking out ten. Martinez was sharp as well, but the offense scratched a run out of him in the fourth. Derek Norris led off the inning with a triple, and then Cory Spangenberg got on base with a single, though it wasn't enough to bring Norris home. A sac bunt from Kennedy put Spangenberg on second, and then Travis Jankowski moved both runners up with a grounder to second.

The score would stay 1-0 until the seventh inning. Pat Murphy sent Kennedy out to start the inning, but he got into trouble quickly. Brandon Moss led off with a double and then Tommy Pham followed up with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Murphy turned to his bullpen, and they delivered. Shawn Kelley, Marc Rzepczynski, and Bud Norris each came in, struck out a Cardinal, and left. After he ended the inning, Bud left the field to a standing ovation.

And then things got really fun. Alexi Amarista led off the inning with a single, and then Jankowski turned a bunt into an infield single. Yangervis Solarte bunted them over, and then Mike Matheny called Randy Choate out of the bullpen. Choate walked Yonder Alonso and got his useless butt replaced by Seth Maness. Matt Kemp got the inning really rocking as he hit a single up the middle to score two more and put Jankowski in scoring position. Justin Upton followed up with a bases clearing double. Jedd Gyorko grounded out for the second out of the inning, and then the inning should have ended when Derek Norris hit a grounder to third, but Mark Reynolds airmailed the throw and kept the inning alive. Clint Barmes brought in two more with a double of his own, which brought Amarista back up. He hit a single for his second pinch hit of the inning. Matheny was finally sick of Maness, and brought in Tyler Lyons... who gave up another single to Jankowski. Solarte granded out to first to end the inning, but seven runs had put the Padres very comfortably in the lead. A couple scoreless innings from Kevin Quackenbush and Odrisamer Despaigne sealed their fifth consecutive victory.

Colin Rea will go for his third win, the team's sixth in a row, and a sweep of the Cardinals. First pitch is at 1:10 PM.