Dakota Hudson had been waiting for the day he would still be pitching in the seventh inning for the Cardinals. He hadn’t made it past the fifth in his previous four starts.
Nolan Arenado was waiting for the day he would hit something besides the occasional single. In five recent games, he hadn’t even had that, going nothing for 17.
But Hudson, bailed out by in the first inning by center fielder Harrison Bader’s diving catch that saved two runs, retired 18 men in a row before the San Diego Padres had two singles in the seventh inning.