The San Diego Padres started and finished strong on their longest road trip of the season. Hitting and running as if the ground was burning their feet, the Padres concluded the 10-game, three-city trek Sunday with a 9-2 victory over the St.

Michael McGreevy and the Cardinals wrap up a fiery four-game home series vs. the Padres with Sunday's 1:15 p.m. start at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis (54-53) dropped back-to-back games to San Diego (57-49), resulting in a four-game series split after Sunday's 9-2 loss at Busch Stadium.

Masyn Winn drove in two runs, Willson Contreras had two hits and scored twice and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 3-0.

On Friday, the benches cleared in the matchup between the Cardinals and Padres after Nick Pivetta plunked Willson Contreras.

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals lead 2-1 in a four-game series with the San Diego Padres. St. Louis has a 31-21 record at home and a 54-52 record overall. The Cardinals have gone 41-9 in games when they scored at least five runs.

The San Diego Padres won their final game of a four-game set against the Wild Card-hopeful St. Louis Cardinals, 9-2. Manny Machado had a 4-for-5 day with three

Randy Vásquez and Mike Shildt’s Four Horsemen rode to the rescue. On a surprisingly (somewhat) pleasant July evening at Busch Stadium, the San Diego Padres got a much-needed victory the same way they got their only other victory this week.