May 20, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Jason Marquis (21) throws during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

And all the chips as well after 9 innings of play in a fine San Diego night, hosting one of the hottest teams in the NL in St Louis.  The Padre hitters have also been hot as of late, but tonight, the game played out more like Petco of old, with a solid pitching backed up by familiar mainstays in the bullpen.  Jason Marquis had a marquee night, going 6 innings, and striking out 3, walking 4 and earning 2 double plays.  Well, marquee maybe a bit of stretch, but I’ve been dying to use that for a while now.  Considering the tough match up against rising Cardinal star Shelby Miller, and the stress of facing a strong and balanced Cardinals lineup, marquee may very well be an apt description.  Jason held his composure even when stressed early with a bases loaded scenario and a rare run scoring miscue by Chase Headley.  Jason was able to keep the Cardinals looking uncomfortable all night, throwing a heavy diet of hit me sinkers and sliders.  Jason threw 58.1% sinkers, 38.7% sliders, and 3.2% change ups.  No four seamers for Cards until the bullpen, and it seemed to wear on the Cardinals who may have been more used to hitting, as well as pounding the high heat.  Jason now leads the Padre starting pitchers with 6 wins and sports a 3.27 ERA.

Padre hitters also held their own tonight, tagging 3 earned runs against Shelby Miller.  Miller is at this point in his career, essentially a fastball pitcher with an effective curve.  In fact, Miller started off the first inning by only throwing fastballs to the Padres, going 24 straight at one point.   In a way, it was interesting to watch Marquis only throwing sinkers, while matched by Miller only throwing fastballs.  I suppose you ride the horse that gets you there.  The Padre hitters were able to pick away at Miller and eventually chased him in the 6th, before pushing through the bullpen.  Overall a great game by the Padres for a solid win, and not backing down against the NL elite.

With a quarter of the season already over(yes it passes by quicker than you think), I can’t say that I’m happy with 21-23.  I’ve been pleased with their play of late, but we should expect a lot from the Padres.  It is ok to expect more, and still be pleased with the fighting spirit that the Padres have exuded to hold on for dear life in the division.  Catcher Yasmani Grandal is nearing return – for all that’s been said and done, I see his return as helpful and should be construed as a positive.  And for all the early adversity that the Padres have faced, it may spin into a positive if we can survive long enough to contend.  The Padre players seem to be more comfortable than their opponents while in stressful situations.  It has become like second nature for the friars.

Alonso and Gyorko played well on Sunday. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

I knew that the ball traveled better at Petco Park in the daytime, but the Padres put on an incredible offensive display today as they beat the Nationals by a score of 13-4.

How well did San Diego’s hitters perform?  Here’s a quick rundown:

• Five of San Diego’s hitters logged two rbi’s (Jedd Gyorko, Everth Cabrera, Yonder Alonso, Will Venable and Kyle Blanks).

• Blanks, Venable and Alonso each hit one home run.

• Seven of the Padres’ 15 hits today were for extra bases.

• San Diego’s hitters went 6-15 with runners in scoring position.

The Padres were an offensive force all afternoon long, and they were especially potent whenever the Nationals tried to crawl back into the game.  They extended a 3-2 lead to 7-2 in the fifth inning.  Then in the seventh, San Diego’s hitters stretched a 7-4 lead into a 12-4 lead to put the game entirely out of reach at that juncture.  Whenever Washington tried to chip away at the lead, San Diego just answered.  It was downright fun to watch.

While the offense definitely found their collective groove, kudos must also go to Andrew “Grizzly Adams” Cashner for his work on the mound today.  Cashner had himself yet another solid outing as he worked 6.2 innings, struck out six hitters and gave up three runs. “Grizzly’s” only big mistake came when allowed one mistake pitch to Ryan Zimmerman for a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

I tip my cap to the Padres for fighting back to salvage a series split after they lost the first two of their four-game set with the Nationals over the weekend.  Just like they rebounded in Baltimore after their tough series against Tampa Bay, the Padres are certainly not a team that will roll over if things do not go their way.

With that in mind, I am definitely intrigued to see how well they will perform against an experienced team like St. Louis over the next three games.  As I alluded to last week, taking on talented teams like Washington, Baltimore and St. Louis will be a terrific litmus test for the young and developing Padres.

I just hope that their hitters are ready for the Cardinals’ awesome starting staff.

The Friars started the scoring in the top of the second inning with some timely hitting by the bottom of their batting order.  San Diego had runners at second and third after rookie Jedd Gyorko hit a single and Alexi Amarista blasted a ground-rule double before an unlikely player stepped up with two outs.  John Baker, who received a spot –start today, laced a single which plated both Gyorko and Amarista to put the Padres ahead by a score of 2-0.

The “hit parade” continued for San Diego as they really got to Freddy Garcia during his less than four innings of work.  Yes readers, it was the same Freddy Garcia who the Padres brought in for competition purposes during spring training.  In fact, every single Padres starter recorded a least one hit today!

Amarista had a great game today. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

In the top of the fourth, Kyle Blanks crushed a solo home run and Amarista followed the scorcher with another double to right field.  Everth Cabrera walked after a Baker fly-out, and Will Venable hit a double to score Amarista from second after Garcia left the game!

San Diego added on more insurance runs in the top of the sixth with a single by Carlos Quentin, a two-run home run by Amarista in the seventh, and a Cabrera single in the final frame.

Amarista’s jack was particularly impressive, especially because the “Little Ninja” smashed the ball to deep left-center.  Make no mistake, Alexi is a short guy, but he sure can pack a wallop if he makes the type of solid contact he did today.

Jason Marquis (5-2) did not have his “best” stuff on the mound today, but credit must go to the veteran for pitching himself out of numerous sticky situations.  Jason did not dominate Baltimore’s hitters today as he gave up seven hits and three walks during his five innings of work.  Yet the veteran’s ability to perform “damage control” in the most crucial of situations was huge as he only allowed two solo home runs on the day.

Kudos must also go to the rest of San Diego’s bullpen for their collective performance over the final four frames too.  Dale Thayer, Joe Thatcher, Anthony Bass and Huston Street allowed a grand total of two runs during the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings as they slammed the door on any hope of an Orioles comeback.

The Padres will head back to San Diego tomorrow for two difficult series in a row.  Tomorrow the Padres begin a four-game set with the Washington Nationals, and on Monday they will tango with the Cardinals for another three.

Let’s just hope that the Friars can continue to play some solid baseball against these two National League juggernauts.