Pivetta's dominant outing and Merrill's clutch hit propel Padres to sixth straight win

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nick Pivetta gave up one hit and one run in seven innings, Jackson Merrill drove in two runs, and the San Diego Padres won their sixth game in a row, 4-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Pivetta (11-3) struck out five and did not give up a walk. His only blemish was a solo homer by Willson Contreras in the fifth that gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

San Diego answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth in large part to two errors that led to three unearned runs.

With Jake Cronenworth at first and one out, Jose Iglesias hit a slow grounder to third baseman Nolan Gorman, whose wide throw hit first baseman Contreras’ glove and rolled away.

Cronenworth went to third and scored when Contreras' throw to Gorman skipped away.

Elias Díaz singled in Iglesias and four batters later, Merrill hit a two-out single up the middle against Matt Svanson.

Robert Suarez notched his major league-best 31st save with a scoreless ninth.

Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (6-9) pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and four runs (one earned).

Padres reliever Mason Miller, acquired at the trade deadline on Thursday from the Athletics, trotted in from the bullpen in the eighth inning to roaring applause from the soldout Petco Park crowd for his first appearance with San Diego. Miller got Yohel Pozo to ground into a double play with one out and runners at the corners to get out of the inning unscathed.

The Cardinals have lost five of their last six games. In those five loses, St. Louis has scored a combined four runs.

The Cardinals’ RHP Michael McGreevy (2-2, 4.91 ERA) takes the hill in game two of the series Saturday night versus Padres’ RHP Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.65).

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St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras celebrates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras watches his home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Jackson Merrill watches his two-RBI single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta works against a St. Louis Cardinals batter during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta works against a St. Louis Cardinals batter during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.

Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.

But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)