It would be nice if the Padres could be more fortunate more often when it comes to that one unlucky bounce, but as manager Buddy Black is fond of pointing out, that’s baseball. San Diego lost to the Cardinals on Sunday, 3-2, in a game filled with spectacular plays.

The Padres staked starter Eric Stults to an early lead when Everth Cabrera led off with a double and two outs later, Yonder Alonso drove him in with a single. But in the bottom of the third inning, Stults gave up three runs and that was all the Cardinals would get and all they would need.

After allowing a double and a walk, Stults gave up a single to Allen Craig (you’ll see all you want of Craig later in the game) to drive in a run, and then David Freese (originally drafted by the Padres and traded to St. Louis for Jim Edmonds who failed miserably in San Diego) drove in two more runs with a double. After that, it was Padres bats trying to catch up and Padres gloves keeping the game close.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Will Venable made another amazing grab. Even Cardinals fans gave him a big round of applause:

The game remained tight and the Padres kept trying to get to Adam Wainwright. In the sixth inning, the Padres got closer when Carlos Quentin doubled and Yonder Alonso singled Quentin to third, and then Quentin came home when Venable grounded into a double play.

The score was 3-2 at that point, and defense took over again. In the seventh inning, Carlos Quentin made a circus catch in left field, although he took an odd path to the ball. In fairness to Carlos, the ball could have been tailing away from his angle, and after all, he did come up with the remarkable catch:

The top of the ninth inning was purely bad luck for the Padres and good luck for the Cardinals combined with Allen Craig’s catch to rob Jedd Gyorko of a home run. With one out, Alexi Amarista singled, and then Jesus Guzman pinch hit and laced a double to left field, but the ball took an unfortunate hop and landed in the stands.

Where Amarista would have otherwise scored, since the double was of the ground-rule variety Amarista was sent back to third base and the Padres would need to get another hit in order to at least tie the game with two outs. That was when Gyorko stepped into the box and took a ball deep and that was when Allen Craig (who had already knocked in the first run for the Cardinals) pulled off a game-ending theft job that would have otherwise put the Padres up by two runs:

This is what happens. Or as Buddy Black would say, “That’s baseball.”

Notes:

Sunday, Buddy Black announced that Tyson Ross would be recalled to pitch on Tuesday. Ross was a starter before he landed on the disabled list with a dislocated shoulder, then came back to pitch in relief while the shoulder (on his non-throwing side) continued to heal. He was sent to AAA in order to stretch out again and handle the starting role he’s best suited for. The corresponding move to keep the roster at 25 will likely be announced on Tuesday.

With Jason Marquis down and on the disabled list (elbow), the starting pitcher on Wednesday is up in the air. According to Corey Brock of mlb.com, the injury to Marquis appears serious and perhaps longer than a 15-day rehabilitation, and other sources indicate that a MRI will dictate the severity of the problem. Expect Black to announce a decision either Monday or Tuesday concerning who will fill that starting spot.

The Friars are in Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers starting on Monday. Andrew Cashner (5-5, 3.81) will take the bump for the Padres and face Tom Gorzelanny (1-3, 1.88) of the Brew Crew. Game time is at 5:10 PM PDST and radio 1090 AM along with Fox Sports San Diego will provide the coverage.