Padres Rally to Beat Slumping Cardinals

Mike Cameron’s two-run double capped San Diego’s four-run seventh inning against Chris Carpenter, and free-falling St. Louis saw its lead in the Central Division shrink to 1 1/2 games after the Padres’ 7-5 victory Tuesday night. With the victory, the Padres maintained their two-game lead over the Dodgers in the West with five games to play.

“This is a time when we need to start winning ballgames,” Carpenter said. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with a big pitch when I had to.”

San Diego’s magic number to clinch the West is down to four after its sixth straight win.

St. Louis appeared to have all but clinched the division title with a seven-game lead and 13 games to go. But the Cardinals’ skid has coincided with a winning streak for the Houston Astros, who beat Pittsburgh for their seventh victory in a row.

“We’re not OK because we can’t make enough happen to win a game,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “But we’re still alive, so we understand that also.”