Padres Notes: SD Pursued Munetaka Murakami, Ethan Salas Development, Mason Miller's Rare Feat

The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, on Saturday to snap their losing streak.

The Cardinals struck first in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI double from Nathan Church. That was the only run Randy Vásquez allowed, though, in an otherwise strong showing.

As for the Padres offense, they were no-hit through four innings against Dustin May. Then, with one out in the fifth, Ty France crushed a home run to deep center field as he continued his hot start to the season.

A few batters later, with two on and two out, Fernando Tatis Jr. blooped a two-run single to right field. Then, after the Cardinals got one back, Manny Machado hit his 200th home run as a Padre to give Mason Miller an insurance run.

Miller's outing was eventful, as he got the final out of the eighth before pitching the ninth inning, too. In his second inning of work, Miller needed to get four outs as he struck out Yohel Pozo to end the game, but it was a wild pitch that allowed him to reach. Miller ended up recording four strikeouts in the ninth inning, a feat last accomplished for the Padres by current manager Craig Stammen.

While the Padres offense has struggled this year — especially at the top — the front office reportedly showed interest in Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami in free agency. However, there was one big reason San Diego wasn't able to sign the free agent, who ended up inking a two-year, $34 million deal with the Chicago White Sox.

In other news, catcher Ethan Salas is continuing to impress in 2026, and has now returned to MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list.

Salas had fallen out of the rankings after a 2025 season that saw him play in just 10 games due to a back injury. However, Salas is healthy again in 2026, and making the experts who removed him from the rankings look foolish.

Here’s more information on these stories and all the latest Padres news (click the headline for the full article):

Padres' Ethan Salas Returns to Top 100 MLB Prospects List in Major Development

Padres Passed on Munetaka Murakami in Free Agency for Unfortunate Reason

Dodgers Bringing Blake Snell Back Just in Time to Face Padres

Padres' Michael King Has Blunt Assessment of His 2026 Season

Fernando Tatis Jr Moved in Padres Lineup Again vs Cardinals Amid Struggles

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