Lyons leads Cardinals past Padres 5-3

San Diego Padres right fielder Kyle Blanks drops a catch off a hit for a single by St. Louis Cardinals' Yadier Molina during the eighth inning of their baseball game Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in San Diego.
San Diego Padres right fielder Kyle Blanks drops a catch off a hit for a single by St. Louis Cardinals' Yadier Molina during the eighth inning of their baseball game Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Tyler Lyons pitched seven solid innings in his major league debut on the same day St. Louis lost Jaime Garcia for the season, and the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Lyons, who was promoted from Triple-A Memphis after Garcia went on the disabled list, allowed one run and four hits. The 25-year-old left-hander was a ninth-round draft pick in 2010 out of Oklahoma State.

The Cardinals announced before that game that Garcia will have season-ending shoulder surgery this week. The lefty went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA in nine starts this year, helping St. Louis bolt to the majors' best record at 30-16.

Yadier Molina had four hits and Carlos Beltran finished with three as the Cardinals took two of three from the Padres.

San Diego rookie Burch Smith failed to record an out in the second inning for the second time in three major league starts. The right-hander struggled with his command, walking three before he was lifted with no outs in the second.

Tim Stauffer came in and got Matt Holliday to hit into a double play, but Matt Carpenter scored to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. Smith allowed five hits and has given up 15 runs and 16 hits in just 7 1-3 innings.

Holliday had an RBI triple in the first and scored on Allen Craig's single. Descalso then tacked on a run-scoring double.

Molina added a run-scoring single in the fifth but that was the only blemish for Stauffer, who allowed eight hits and struck out seven in 5 2-3 innings.

Stauffer kept San Diego in the game, but the offense never got going.

Rookie Jedd Gyorko got the Padres on the board with a towering home run to center field in the seventh. Gyorko's drive went 438 feet and is the longest at Petco Park this season. He has the three longest Padres home runs this season.

Alexi Amarista added a two-run single in the ninth for San Diego.

NOTES: Cardinals closer Edward Mujica allowed two runs and three hits in the ninth in a non-save situation. ... Gyorko went 2 for 4 and scored two runs.

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