Jj Wetherholt turned a blooper into a breakout and the St. Louis Cardinals turned it into a rout. He hit a Little League grand slam Friday night and added an RBI single as the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 6-0.

The game broke open in the fifth inning, when Wetherholt lined a bases-loaded RBI single to right field and Fernando Tatis Jr. overran the ball so badly it rolled under his glove and all the way to the wall. All three runners scored on the play, a three-run error that was Tatis Jr.'s first error of the season. Nolan Gorman later added an RBI single in the inning, and Alec Burleson followed with a sacrifice fly.

Wetherholt finished with five RBIs in all, the kind of night that can change the feel of a club in a hurry. The Cardinals needed that cushion because Griffin Canning was not the stopper on the other side. Making his second start of the season after returning from an Achilles' tear sustained last June, he took the loss after allowing seven hits and six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.

The Cardinals got the kind of pitching performance that lets an early lead breathe. Michael McGreevy struck out a career-high nine over six innings, allowing only one hit, a Jackson Merrill single in the fourth, and walking two. Gordon Graceffo and Ryne Stanek then held San Diego hitless over the final three innings.

The result left St. Louis at 3-2 and San Diego at 0-1, with the Cardinals already looking ahead to Saturday's game. Right-hander Dusty May is scheduled to start opposite Padres right-hander Randy Vasquez.

For one night, the headline was simple: Wetherholt delivered the swing, McGreevy controlled the game, and the Padres never found a way back in after the fifth inning got away from them.