ST. LOUIS _ The Padres teased and teased and teased and teased some more.
And then what has ended so predictably badly so many times in the past for the Padres instead morphed into a productive afternoon, as they ruined the Cardinals' home opener with a 5-3 victory Friday at Busch Stadium.
The Padres (5-3) are above .500 after eight games for the first time since 2009, when they were 6-2. They did not get their fifth victory last season until their 15th game.
After going hitless in their first 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position Friday, the Padres scored two runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh.
Their first hit with a runner in scoring position was Hunter Renfroe's homer in the sixth that gave the Padres a 2-1 lead.
Renfroe was pinch-hitting for rookie pitcher Nick Margevicius, who allowed one run and one hit in five innings.
After the Cardinals tied the game off Robert Stock in the bottom of the sixth, Manny Machado and Franmil Reyes walked to start the seventh. It was the sixth inning in a row the Padres had a runner in scoring position and the fifth time it happened with fewer than two outs.
The runners moved up on a wild pitch and stayed at second and third on Wil Myers' groundout. Franchy Cordero's first career sacrifice fly scored Machado to give the Padres a 3-2 lead.
Rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. then sent the first pitch he saw from Alex Reyes, a 97-mph fastball at the top of the zone, into the left-field seats to make it 5-2.
Paul Goldschmidt's two-out home run off Trey Wingenter in the eighth inning closed the gap to 5-3. Paul DeJong's fly ball to the track was caught by Myers to end the inning.
Kirby Yates earned his fourth save of the season with a perfect ninth.
Margevicius, who allowed one run on three hits in five innings in his major league debut on March 30, on Friday allowed just a home run by DeJong with one out in the fourth inning.
It was the sixth time in eight games the Padres starting pitcher has gone at least five innings and allowed one run or fewer.
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