The Padres take on the Cardinals, with Nick Pivetta & Miles Mikolas getting the starts. Analysis centers on their recent performances.

ST. LOUIS — The Padres started and finished strong on their longest road trip of the season. They concluded the 10-game, three-city trip Sunday with a 9-2 victory over the Cardinals built mostly in the first four innings.

Its Thursday, July 24 and the Padres (55-47) are in St. Louis to open a series against the Cardinals (52-51). Yu Darvish is slated to take the mound for San Diego against Sonny Gray for St. Louis.

It took just one inning to spark the St. Louis Cardinals to a decisive victory against San Diego and out of their recent doldrums at the plate.

Manny Machado had two hits and was twice hit by pitches, and San Diego and St. Louis cleared the benches in the ninth inning in the Padres' 3-1 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday night. The Cardinals' Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch for a second straight game,

Jay, a member of two World Series teams and five consecutive playoff clubs for the Cardinals, was 16 for his first 60 (.267) before Thursday night with the Padres, where he has been their leadoff man.

They are separated by a half-game in the wild-card standings, with the 76-69 Cardinals holding a slight edge over the 76-70 Padres. But of course, that can change very quickly over three games.

The St. Louis Cardinals had a surprisingly good week. The team took two games from both the Milwaukee Brewers and the Minnesota Twins as they looked to keep their playoff hopes alive. St. Louis ...