The St. Louis Cardinals are proving that the road is their home away from home. In a crisp, two-hour, 25-minute pitching duel where every detail mattered, the Cardinals edged the San Diego Padres 2-1 at Petco Park on Thursday night. The win pushed their road record to an MLB-best 12-5, giving them a staggering .706 winning percentage away from Busch Stadium.
The hero of the night? Catcher Pedro Pagés. With the Cardinals clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning, Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with an infield single and immediately looked to steal second. Pagés had other plans. His perfect throw to second base gunned down Tatis for his MLB-leading ninth caught stealing of the season—a momentum-shifting play that left the Padres challenging the call in a lengthy replay review. The out stood, and the Cardinals breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Pagés has quietly become one of the league's most reliable catchers behind the dish. So far this season, he's thrown out nine of 28 base stealers, a 32.1 percent success rate that easily outpaces the 2026 MLB average of 29 percent for catchers. He's on pace to set a career mark in caught stealing percentage, making him a key weapon in close games.
The Cardinals' pitching staff deserves plenty of credit too. Starter Matthew Liberatore kept the Padres off balance, and Riley O'Brien slammed the door in the ninth with a fastball that touched 101 mph. O'Brien picked up his 11th save in 13 opportunities this season, continuing his emergence as a reliable closer.
The game was a classic pitcher's duel through six innings, with Padres starter Michael King allowing just one hit before being pulled. But the Cardinals capitalized quickly against reliever Bradgley Rodriguez. Jordan Walker crushed a hanging changeup off the left-field wall, driving in the go-ahead run and giving St. Louis the lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The win also marked the Cardinals' eighth one-run victory of the season, tied for the most in the majors. For a team that's been road warriors all year, those tight games are becoming a signature. Whether it's a perfect throw from Pagés or a 101-mph fastball from O'Brien, the Cardinals are finding ways to win—especially away from home.