"For Ryan Ludwick, baseball wasn't a game of inches Sunday afternoon.

It was one of feet - four and one.

That's how close Ludwick twice came to what could have been a game-winning hit Sunday in St. Louis.

Bases loaded, one out in the Padres sixth. Two line drives. One landed four feet foul deep in the left-field corner. The second landed a foot foul between third base and the corner.

"I don't know how many runs those would have scored," Ludwick said. "At least two. It could have been the difference in this game."

Oh, there was a third line drive.

This one was caught by Cardinals third baseman Daniel Descalso, who doubled losing pitcher Dustin Moseley off third to end the inning and kill the only threat mounted by the Padres against St. Louis left-hander Jaime Garcia - who became the first pitcher in the major leagues this season to throw a shutout.

After scoring 16 runs in the season's first two games, the Padres were blanked 2-0 Sunday in their unsuccessful bid to sweep the Cardinals for the first time in 31 seasons in St. Louis.

"That was a well-pitched game by both guys," said Padres manager Bud Black.

But Moseley made one mistake on the mound - and possibly a second on the bases - and that was all Garcia and the Cardinals needed to avoid going 0-3 to start the season for the first time 2007.

The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the fifth.

Lance Berkman opened with a single to right. Moseley then bounced a breaking ball to Colby Rasmus, and Berkman moved to second when the ball ricocheted off Nick Hundley and rolled up the third base line."