San Diego Padres vs St. Louis Cardinals Box Score on Sep 17, 2021

Dylan Carlson hit two homers and drove in five runs to propel St. Louis past the visiting San Diego Padres 8-2 on Friday, giving the Cardinals a sixth consecutive victory.

The switch-hitting Carlson hit a solo homer from the left side and a grand slam from the right side.

Tyler O'Neill added a two-run homer for the Cardinals (77-69), who moved 1 1/2 games up on the Padres (76-71) in the race for the second National League wild-card slot. The Reds (77-71) beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Friday, so Cincinnati remains one game back of St. Louis.

San Diego has lost six of its past eight games.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (1-2) delivered his best performance since returning from forearm and shoulder injuries in late August. He blanked the Padres on three hits through 5 2/3 innings. Mikolas walked two and struck out three.

Padres starter Vince Velasquez (3-7) allowed four runs on four hits in four innings, with no walks and four strikeouts.

The Cardinals struck first, scoring three times in the first inning. Tommy Edman hit a leadoff double and scored on Paul Goldschmidt's single. O'Neill followed with his two-run homer to put the Cardinals up 3-0.

Velasquez settled in to retire 11 straight batters until Carlson's homer in the fourth inning made it 4-0.

Mikolas limited the Padres to two hits through five innings. He exited in the sixth inning after allowing Manny Machado's two-out double.

The Padres cut the deficit to 4-2 in the seventh inning. Tommy Pham hit a leadoff single, and Eric Hosmer followed with a double.

Luis Garcia relieved T.J. McFarland and walked Trent Grisham with one out to load the bases. Pinch hitter Jake Cronenworth lofted a sacrifice fly, and Jurickson Profar hit an RBI single.

Garcia finally got Fernando Tatis Jr. to pop out to end the inning.

Goldschmidt hit a leadoff double in the eighth inning off reliever Austin Adams, and Arenado drew a one-out walk. Adams hit Yadier Molina with a pitch to load the bases.

Ross Detwiler relieved Adams and allowed Carlson's victory-sealing slam on a 1-1 fastball.

--Field Level Media