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Facing Padres starter Nick Pivetta, Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras was hit on the left elbow by a fastball from Pivetta to lead off the second inning. The hit by pitch was followed by an exchange of words between Contreras and Pivetta and the emptying of both dugouts and bullpens.

“Nothing. I think it was just part of the game,” Contreras said of the exchange. “A couple of words were exchanged there. Nothing major. I think when the benches clear, it makes everything worse. I don't think it was that bad. He's a competitor. I'm a competitor. We exchanged words. That was it.”

Once the field cleared and Contreras reached base, the Cardinals capitalized on their first opportunity to hit with a runner on base as Contreras advanced to third later that inning and scored on Yohel Pozo’s groundout for the game’s first run. The lead widened when Masyn Winn produced two runs on a double in the fourth inning and was held steady as Cardinals pitchers, led by starter Miles Mikolas’ five-plus innings, shut out the Padres for a 3-0 win at Busch Stadium.

The result secured back-to-back wins for the Cardinals (54-51) for the first time since they swept the Guardians in a three-game series during the final weekend of June and kept them climbing up the NL Wild Card standings. The Cardinals ended Friday trailing the Padres by 1.5 games for the third NL Wild Card spot with two more games left vs. the Padres this weekend and three scheduled in San Diego to kick off August after the July 31 trade deadline passes.

“They're ahead of us. We're chasing them. We need every game,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

The Cardinals received scoreless relief work from four relievers, an effort capped by Ryan Helsley’s 21st save of the year, in a shutout that marked their 11th of the season. Mikolas received a timely double play in the fourth inning that included an outfield assist from right fielder Jordan Walker that capitalized on Xander Bogaerts’ poor read in his attempt to tag up from first base to second base on a fly out. The Cardinals turned a second double play in the sixth inning on a comeback grounder left-hander Steven Matz reached across his body to snag before throwing to Winn, who covered second base, to nab the lead runner in an at-bat that began with runners at first and second base.

The shutout after allowing 11 hits marked the first time in over 80 years the Cardinals kept an opponent scoreless despite giving up 11 or more hits. The last such effort came against the Boston Braves on August 24, 1943.

“We definitely dodged it,” Marmol said of the traffic his pitching staff navigated on Friday. “We did a nice job of it. ... They scattered some hits, but (Mikolas) had everything working. He mixed it. Kept them off balance. We made some nice plays as well in the outfield, but overall solid.”

A day after scoring nine runs on 12 hits to claim a series-opening win, the Cardinals pushed across three runs on three hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch from Pivetta. The hit by pitch gave the Cardinals their first base runner and was Contreras' NL-leading 15th hit by pitch of this season.

It drew some frustration after Contreras was hit twice in a span of three games vs. San Diego in April of last season.

“I'm not trying to get any fractures, because last year we played them, and they took me out for a week,” said Contreras, who dealt with a bone bruise in his left hand last season when Padres starter Joe Musgrove hit him with a pitch. “This year is nothing different. None of them are going to feel sorry if I get a broken hand or a broken finger. None of them. ... That's why I take an exception of that.”

When Contreras began removing his elbow guard and walked down to first base following Pivetta’s inside pitch, he appeared to respond to comments from the righty. Padres catcher Elias Diaz stepped in front of Contreras and walked with him as Contreras continued to exchange words with the Padres starter.

“I know what he said. But nothing, it was just that,” Contreras said.

“I think (Contreras) thinks that he owns a certain part of the plate,” Pivetta said to reporters. “I mean, it's a fastball, and I don't hit very many guys. For him to, like, stare at me and try, at least I feel from my side, he's trying to intimidate me into trying to do stuff. That's the player that he is. Doesn't mean that he's a bad player. He's a great player. He does play baseball very well, but I'm not going to back down. I'm going to go out and do my thing."

“I'm going to control the inside part of the plate, which I have been doing," Pivetta continued. "I hit him on the elbow guard. I mean, I haven't gone back and looked at it, but I could probably guess that he was probably diving over the plate a little bit.”

Warnings were issued to both sides. There were no ejections and no further escalations from the hit by pitch through the rest of Friday’s game.

“We exchanged words. He was competing. I hate getting hit. I'm a competitor,” Contreras said. “Thankfully, that (situation) dies right there.”