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Cardinals survive Padres' rally in ninth

Aug 18, 2014 - 3:41 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Carpenter went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and the St. Louis Cardinals hung on to down the San Diego Padres, 7-6, in the finale of a four-game series.

The Padres certainly made things interesting until the final out, as they worked three walks against Trevor Rosenthal to load the bases in the ninth.

Rosenthal was pulled for Seth Maness with one away, and Abraham Almonte greeted him with a two-run single to center to pull San Diego within 7-6.

Matt Adams saved the tying run from scoring with a diving stop of Seth Smith's ground ball to first base. Adams dove to his right and got just enough of the ball to stop it from going into the outfield, and second baseman Kolten Wong gathered it and threw Smith out at first.

With the go-ahead run now at second, Maness got Yasmani Grandal to fly out to left to secure his second save.

Adam Wainwright (15-8) became the majors' second 15-game winner by tossing seven solid innings. He retired the first 11 batters he faced but wound up allowing four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits.

"Our pitching staff's been great and the offense is started to do its part," Carpenter said.

Jake Goebbert went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI to pace the Padres, who dropped three of four in the series after winning five in a row coming in.

Goebbert tripled into the right-field corner in the sixth to knock in Jedd Gyorko and scored when Wong's throw to third went into the seats along the third-base side.

The play pulled San Diego within a run after trailing 5-0, but the Cardinals got the two runs back in the bottom half thanks to Carpenter, whose double into the right-field gap proved to be the game-winner as both Peter Bourjos and Tony Cruz came around to score.

Odrisamer Despaigne (3-4) did not make it past the fourth inning for San Diego, having surrendered five runs on six hits.

"The ball was up out over the plate. He couldn't get any of his pitches where he needed to get them," Padres manager Bud Black said.

The Cardinals batted around against the rookie hurler in a four-run first frame. Jon Jay stepped up with the bases loaded and drove one through the left side to bring in a pair, and Bourjos and Cruz each singled in a run with two away.

Carpenter got just enough of a Despaigne offering to send it over the wall in right-center leading off the second, and it stayed 5-0 until the Padres' bats woke up in the fifth.

Alexi Amarista drove in Goebbert with a single to center, and Will Venable scored when Yangervis Solarte's comebacker caromed off Wainwright's foot.

Game Notes

Carpenter has hit .385 (22-for-57) in 17 career games against the Padres ... Despaigne has allowed 11 runs in two outings against the Cardinals. He has a 1.95 ERA in his other eight starts ... Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto was the first pitcher to reach 15 wins this season.