Cardinals ride second-inning explosion to win over Padres

Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras hit three-run homers to power the St. Louis Cardinals past the visiting San Diego Padres 9-7 Thursday.
Ivan Herrera was 3-for-4 with a homer, two runs and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who won for just the second time in seven games since the All-Star break. That gave Oliver Marmol his 300th career managerial victory.
Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (10-4) allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in five innings. Riley O’Brien, JoJo Romero, Phil Maton and Ryan Helsley (20th save) combined for four scoreless innings.
Manny Machado went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Padres, who lost for the third time in four games. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 3-for-5 with a homer and two runs.
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (0-3) struggled in his fourth start since coming off the injured list. He allowed eight runs on eight hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings.
The Padres struck immediately. Tatis led off the game with a single and Luis Arraez hit an RBI double. Jackson Merrill’s RBI single put San Diego up 2-0.
The Cardinals answered in their half of the inning. Donovan hit a single and scored on Contreras’ double to cut the lead to 2-1.
St. Louis surged ahead 7-2 in the second inning. Jordan Walker’s single and Victor Scott II’s walk set up Donovan’s three-run homer.
Herrera hit a single, Alec Burleson followed with a double and Contreras smacked his three-run home run 415 feet to center field.
The Padres cut their deficit to 7-5 in the third inning. Tatis hit his homer, Arraez hit a double, then Machado hit his two-run shot.
The Cardinals increased their lead to 8-5 in the fourth inning. Scott walked, stole second base and scored on Herrera’s single.
San Diego cut the lead to 8-7 in the fifth inning. Merrill hit a single, Xander Bogaerts hit a double, Gavin Sheets hit an RBI groundout, and Bogaerts scored as Bryce Johnson reached based on an error.
Herrera’s sixth-inning homer pushed St. Louis’ lead to 9-7.