Cardinals keen on continuing surge in clash vs. Padres

These days, it doesn't matter who the St. Louis Cardinals play.

"With the way we're playing, right now, I'm comfortable playing just about anybody," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said of his team, which is 8-2 in its past 10 games. "It has more to do with the consistency right now than anything."

That consistency continued Thursday night in the Cardinals' 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres to start a seven-game road trip.

St. Louis will try to make it two straight victories against the Padres on Friday night.

The Cardinals won with pitching and defense on Thursday. Matthew Liberatore gave up one run on three hits over six innings, and the bullpen gave up only one hit over three shutout innings.

It was a departure from most of the Cardinals' recent wins, which have been built around an offense that has kept steady pressure on the opposition. St. Louis managed just five hits in the series opener, although one was Alec Burleson's sixth homer of the season and another was Masyn Winn's go-ahead RBI triple in the seventh inning.

But it still was enough to boost the Cardinals' road record to 12-5.

"We have the same mindset every day where we're trying to play hard, play the right way and win games," Burleson said. "We just show up and do the things that we do -- and it's worked out for us on the road so far."

It's also worked out for the Cardinals when right-hander Michael McGreevy (2-2, 2.52 ERA) takes the mound. He tossed six shutout innings Saturday night during a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, permitting only three hits and three walks while striking out three.

McGreevy, 25, has faced San Diego twice in his young career, going 1-1 with a 9.28 ERA and allowing 16 hits over 10 2/3 innings.

Opposing McGreevy will be 29-year-old right-hander Griffin Canning (0-0, 1.80 ERA), whose first start with the Padres on Sunday consisted of five good innings against the Chicago White Sox in his team's 4-3 win. Canning gave up one run on three hits while striking out seven in his first MLB game since suffering a season-ending Achilles injury last June with the New York Mets.

In four career starts against St. Louis, Canning is 3-1 with a 3.63 ERA. That includes a win in April 2025 when he pitched for the Mets, a 4-1 decision in which he recorded eight strikeouts in six innings.

Manager Craig Stammen said Canning's initial start for San Diego, which saw him strike out the last four men he faced, was what he envisioned.

"He has the potential to be someone we can rely on," Stammen said. "This is one start for him. He's coming off a major injury. There's bound to be hiccups. But he's off to a good start."

Which is more than can be said for the inconsistent hitters. After showing signs of life with 15 runs on 20 hits in the last two games of their series in San Francisco this week, the Padres managed only four hits Thursday night. Half of those were in the first inning.

Mainstays such as Manny Machado (.202), Jackson Merrill (.230) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (.252) continue to hit far below their career averages. And Tatis' homerless streak to start the year is up to 135 at-bats.