Michael King (4-5, 3.46) takes the ball for the Padres opposite Andre Pallante (7-4, 3.88) at Busch Stadium, and San Diego desperately needs a counterpunch after Monday's 3-0 dud.
King's surface numbers still look like a frontline arm, but the last month has not been kind. He's been tagged for 16 runs across his last 4 starts after surrendering just 15 in his first 10, and the Padres have already lost Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta, German Marquez and Matt Waldron from the rotation depth chart. He is, essentially, the rotation right now.
The Cardinals are a confusing team — 39-31 and a game ahead of the Padres in the playoff math, but losers of 3 of their last 5 before Dustin May went out and threw the first complete-game shutout of his career on Monday. May carried a perfect game into the 7th before Tatis walked and Machado singled. That's the only baserunner the Padres managed in 9 innings.
Pallante has been quietly excellent in his own right. 7 wins, a sub-4 ERA, and his last start was a 6-inning, 2-run effort against the Mets where he needed just 93 pitches. He's a sinker-heavy contact guy — exactly the profile that can give a Padres lineup still missing Jake Cronenworth (concussion), Freddy Fermin (concussion), Luis Campusano (toe) and Miguel Andujar (hamstring) fits.
- 7-day ilFreddy Fermin C — The Padres placed Fermin (concussion) on the 7-day injured list Sunday.
- 7-Day ILJake Cronenworth 2B — Cronenworth (concussion) has been participating in light baseball activities and is "ramping up," per MLB.com.
- 10-Day-ILLuis Campusano C — Campusano (toe) continues to rehab in Arizona but hasn't yet been scheduled for a minor-league rehab assignment, per MLB.com.
- 10-Day-ILMiguel Andujar DH — Andujar (hamstring) remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds.
- bereavementMason Miller RP — Miller secured the save Sunday against the Orioles, throwing 1.1 clean innings. He struck out three.
- 15-Day-ILMatt Waldron SP — Waldron (forearm) made his first rehab appearance with Triple-A El Paso on Sunday, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings.
- 15-Day-ILGerman Marquez SP — Marquez (forearm) tossed four scoreless innings for Triple-A El Paso on Sunday, allowing one hit and issuing one walk while striking out two batters.
- 15-Day-ILJeremiah Estrada RP — Estrada (2-2) picked up the loss after giving up the eventual game-winning run in a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday.
- Day-To-DayPacky Naughton RP — Naughton will undergo surgery next month to repair the damaged UCL in his left elbow, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- Day-To-DaySem Robberse SP — Robberse (elbow) signed a minor-league contract with the Cardinals on Monday, which includes an invitation to spring training, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- Day-To-DayVictor Santos RP — The Red Sox traded Santos (undisclosed) and Nick Robertson to the Cardinals on Friday in exchange for Tyler O'Neill (foot), Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.
- Day-To-DayIxan Henderson SP — Henderson (elbow) is starting the season on the 60-day injured list at Triple-A Memphis.
- Day-To-DayZack Thompson RP — The Cardinals reassigned Thompson (shoulder) to minor-league camp Monday.
- 15-Day-ILRyan Fernandez RP — Fernandez (back) is on track to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis on Friday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
- 60-Day-ILRamon Urias 3B — Urias (elbow) returned to St. Louis to undergo an examination on his left elbow, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
Mason Miller is on the bereavement list, which is the bigger short-term bullpen domino than it looks — he just locked down the save Sunday in Baltimore. Robert Suarez is still the closer, but the bridge gets shakier for a couple days. If this turns into another low-scoring grinder like Monday, the team that gets to the other guy's middle innings first probably wins it.
Padres needed yesterday and got nothing. Tuesday is the not-a-must-win that absolutely feels like one.