Padres 4, Cardinals 2: Bullpen does it again

For the second time the Padres relief team has put together both a quality start and a quality game. The Friars stitched together a functional piece of the starting rotation using 5 relievers, and evened the series against the Cardinals.

The combined effort came from Matt Strahm, Adam Cimber, Craig Stammen, Kirby Yates, and Brad Hand. Cimber was credited with the wind and Hand with the save. Only Stammen would end up giving up a run in his one inning pitched, two of them in the 7th off an RBI-single and RBI-groundout, still striking out 1.

Strahm and Cimber ate 6 innings, combining for 7 strikeouts and only one hit off Cimber. The Cardinals would only collect 5 hits and their 2 runs, with Yates and Hand shutting out the Cards for the win.

The Friars offense kept the lead through the whole game, starting with an Eric Hosmer solo shot in the top of the 4th, his 9th home run of the season, and a deep shot to center field on a first pitch breaking ball.

Two more runs would come in the 4th from a two-run bases loaded RBI single from A.J. Ellis. Cory Spangenberg scored easily from third, but Ellis’ hit was shallow enough to give right fielder Harrison Bader a shot at getting Freddy Galvis coming in from second base. Galvis shot his foot to the front left corner of home plate on the slide and the tag was close enough to coax a challenge from the Cardinals. The safe call for Galvis was upheld, and the Padres were up 3-0.

The final Padres run would come in the 7th inning with Christian Villanueva plating Manuel Margot on an RBI-ground out. The Padres were up 4-0 until the bottom of the 7th, and stayed up 4-2 through the rest of the game thanks to a badass bullpen.

Tomorrow will go back to a traditional start with Eric Lauer getting the mound with a chance to lead the Padres into another series win.