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.

San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease was struck by a 99.6 mph come-backer and evaluated by trainers in a scary moment vs. the New York Mets.

The Padres scored their final run in the ninth on a double by JOhnson, sacrifice bunt by Martín Maldonado and a grounder by Fernando Tatis Jr. that shortstop Masyn Winn bobbled before throwing to first base for the out.

While the Cardinals pitchers worked around 11 hits to keep the Padres scoreless, the Cardinals' lineup pushed across three runs on five hits, a pair of walks, and a hit

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.

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.

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado slammed a former Padre in a postgame interview, the Friars are urged to trade for an All-Star and Dylan Cease could be on the move by the trade deadline.