Padres ride Randy Vásquez, his 4 helpers to victory over Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — Randy Vásquez and Mike Shildt’s Four Horsemen rode to the rescue.

On a surprisingly (somewhat) pleasant midsummer evening at Busch Stadium, the Padres got a much-needed victory the same way they got their only other victory this week.

It is a formula that has served them well.

Vásquez goes as long as he can, and the Padres’ four highest-leverage relievers finish a close game.

On Saturday, the combination locked down a 3-1 victory that stopped the Padres’ losing streak at four games.

This time, Vásquez allowed one run while covering the first 4⅔ innings before Adrian Morejón, Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez finished off the Cardinals.

It was the Padres’ sixth straight victory in a start made by Vásquez. At least two of the Four Horsemen, as Shildt named them earlier this month, have worked in all of those games. All four have worked in the past four.

On Monday, in the Padres’ previous win, the four relievers covered the final 4⅔ innings. They also did that in his previous start. They combined for four innings in the start before that.

“It has worked well,” Shildt said. “It has worked out where we’ve had those guys available with Randy.”

The Padres, who are 4-5 on the road trip that concludes Sunday, built their MLB-leading 36th victory by one or two runs without getting a single hit in ten at-bats with runners in scoring position but with a litany of top-notch at-bats, help from an error and a pair of sacrifice bunts.

“Tonight was a team win,” Shildt said. “… We played good, good, solid fundamental baseball. The offensive machine execution was really good. We took a lot of good at-bats and manufactured some runs.”

There was drama again in this one after the Cardinals’ Willson Contreras got hit by a pitch for the second straight night.

Unlike Friday, warnings were not issued until Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore plunked Manny Machado in the top of the fifth, and the benches did not clear until Machado was hit again in the ninth.

Machado yelled toward pitcher Andre Granillo and heatedly expressed his frustration to home plate umpire Lance Barrett, but he was walking toward first base as the Cardinals and Padres streamed onto the field en masse and Cardinals coach Jon Jay said something to him. That incensed Machado, he started yelling again and some shoving ensued elsewhere in the scrum.

The brouhaha broke up fairly quickly. Granillo was not ejected, but Jay was.

Machado would not reveal what Jay said, but he dispelled any notion that he and the former Padre were friendly because they both hail from Miami.

“Yeah, right,” Machado said. “I know the real him. … No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.”

Contreras was among the main peacemakers in the ninth inning, as he raced in to get his arms around Machado and explain the rookie Granillo was not trying to hit him.

“It was an emotional game tonight, for sure,” Contreras said. “Hopefully it will stop there. Tomorrow we have another one. Hopefully, everything goes well and we just play baseball.”

Shildt expressed the same sentiment, as it seemed everyone agreed the only intentional hit by pitch was when Machado was struck in the elbow guard in retaliation for Contreras being hit the first time.

The Padres will be trying to strengthen their grip on the National League’s final wild-card playoff spot on Sunday, as they hold a one-game lead over the Reds, a two-game lead over the Giants and have a 2½-game edge on the Cardinals.

That made it hugely important they found a way to win Saturday.

They led 1-0 in the second inning after Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch with one out, Bryce Johnson singled with two outs and Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II overran the ball, allowing Cronenworth to race home with no throw.

Vásquez issued a one-out walk to Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the second. Arenado scored from first base on a two-out double by Jordan Walker. Those two and Contreras were the only baserunners Vásquez allowed.

The Padres reclaimed the lead when Cronenworth scored again in the top of the fourth after grounding a double down the right field line, going to third on a groundout to the right side by Jose Iglesias and sliding in ahead of the throw home on a safety squeeze executed by Johnson.

The Padres scored their final run in the ninth on a double by Johnson, a sacrifice bunt by Martín Maldonado and a grounder by Fernando Tatis Jr. that shortstop Masyn Winn bobbled before throwing to first base for the out.

Estrada (4-4) was credited with the win. Suarez upped his MLB-leading save total to 30.

Saturday was Vásquez’s career-high 21st start, one more than last season. His 3.65 ERA is 1.22 points better than 2024, which he spent between the majors and Triple-A.

While Vásquez is just 3-4, the Padres are 14-7 when he starts, better even than their 13-8 record when Nick Pivetta starts.

The Padres have scored more runs for Pivetta than they have for Vásquez. Pivetta’s 2.81 ERA is sixth lowest in the National League. Pivetta has gone six or more innings and allowed zero or one run 10 times. Vásquez has done so twice.

But Vásquez has worked into at least the fifth inning while allowing two or fewer runs in two-thirds of his starts. And he has had the Four Horsemen.

“What’s important is that this team is getting the victory,” Vásquez said through interpreter Jorge Merlos. “I’m going out there and giving this team an opportunity to win. It’s just that; I’m doing my job. … All that stuff that I do is great, but having those guys behind me is just amazing. It’s marvelous to see the work that they’ve been able to do, and the fact that they go out and do the extreme work that they do make the team get a victory at the end of the night is totally cool.”