Major League Baseball
St. Louis 2, San Diego 1
When: 2:15 PM ET, Saturday, July 4, 2015
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Temperature: 83°
Umpires: Home - Hunter Wendelstedt, 1B - Ron Kulpa, 2B - Bob Davidson, 3B - David Rackley
Attendance: 44690

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny tossed a challenge to rookie center fielder Tommy Pham on Saturday.

Challenge accepted, challenge met, streak-busting win accomplished.

Scoring both runs, including the game-winner on a fairly shallow sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning, Pham led St. Louis to a 2-1 decision over the San Diego Padres at sold-out Busch Stadium.

In snapping a season-long four-game losing streak, the Cardinals (52-28) won despite being outhit 9-4, none of the hits coming when they scored the winning run. But Pham, who was a "little surprised" when Matheny made him the leadoff man, took care of things with his wheels.

"It's not like I've never led off a game before," Pham said. "I've led off more than once in the minor leagues. My thought process was just to try to put together good at-bats."

After doubling for his first major league hit to lead off the sixth and scoring on an RBI hit by third baseman Matt Carpenter to wipe out a 1-0 San Diego lead, Pham opened the eighth by reaching on a fielding error by shortstop Alexi Amarista.

Pham stole second on the first pitch to Carpenter and moved to third on Carpenter's groundout to first baseman Yonder Alonso. When shortstop Jhonny Peralta lofted an 0-2 pitch from reliever Brandon Maurer (5-1) to right fielder Will Venable, Pham never gave a second thought to scoring.

"My first thought was I have to score this run," Pham said.

Venable's throw was strong and true, but Pham's legs were just a bit better as his headfirst slide beat the tag of catcher Derek Norris as the crowd of 44,690 erupted.

Peralta thought his fly ball might be deep enough to bring the winning run home.

"Pham's a pretty good runner, so I knew something good was going to happen right there," Peralta said. "He gave us what we needed."

Called up from Triple-A Memphis on Friday, Pham played that night, batting eighth in his first major league start and going hitless in three at-bats. The veteran of 720 minor league games since 2006, whose path to the majors has been derailed by injuries that ended three straight seasons early, had a chance to make the Opening Day roster before a left quad injury sidelined him for nearly three months.

"We put him in a tough spot to see how he was going to respond," Matheny said of Pham. "It was nice to see him get that first hit."

Until Pham provided the spark, it appeared the Padres (39-44) might not need anything else besides a leadoff homer in the fourth by third baseman Yangervis Solarte. Starter Odisramer Despaigne baffled the Cardinals with a good mix of fastballs and off-speed deliveries for five innings.

But Pham's double and Carpenter's hit on the ninth pitch of his at-bat chased Despaigne after five-plus innings and 90 pitches. Despaigne allowed four hits and a run, walking one and striking out three.

"He's trying to pull the ball and I thought I made a good pitch, a sinker away," Despaigne said through an interpreter. "But (Carpenter) made a good adjustment. That one hurt."

St. Louis pitcher Carlos Martinez didn't factor into the decision after going 6 2/3 innings, scattering eight hits and allowing a run. He walked two and fanned five.

Seth Maness (3-0) pitched a clean eighth for the win and closer Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances.

NOTES: St. Louis recalled RHP Mitch Harris from Triple-A Memphis, opting to go with 13 pitchers as it plays 10 games in the last nine days before the All-Star break. Harris was 1-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 16 games earlier this year for the Cardinals. ... San Diego C Derek Norris (left AC joint) played despite being injured in Friday night's game when he tumbled over 1B Xavier Scruggs beating out an infield hit. ... To make room for Harris, St. Louis optioned INF Greg Garcia to Memphis. Garcia went 5-for-12 in 10 games with the Cardinals, belting a pinch-homer on June 26 against the Chicago Cubs.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
San Diego   St. Louis
Odrisamer Despaigne Player Carlos Martinez
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 6.2
3 Strikeouts 5
4 Hits 8
1.80 ERA 1.35
Hitting
San Diego   St. Louis
Jedd Gyorko Player Yadier Molina
3 Hits 1
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 1
.750 Avg .333
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
San Diego 9 1 12 .281 13 6 1 2 0 1
St. Louis 4 0 5 .143 11 7 2 2 1 0