San Diego @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 20, 2016 ) San Diego 2, St. Louis 3

Adam Wainwright has re-established himself as the ace of St. Louis' pitching staff and looks to help the Cardinals complete a four-game sweep of the visiting San Diego Padres on Thursday. St. Louis has won three in a row at home for only the second time this season after taking both ends of Wednesday's doubleheader.

Cardinals infielder Jedd Gyorko is single-handedly destroying his former team, going 7-for-10 with four home runs and six RBIs in the series. Gyorko has homered in five consecutive games against the Padres and is 13-for-21 with six blasts and 10 RBIs in six meetings this season. Matt Kemp and Ryan Schimpf went deep in Wednesday night's 3-2 loss for San Diego, extending the team's franchise record to 18 straight games with a home run. Andrew Cashner, originally scheduled to pitch Wednesday, will face Wainwright in the series finale.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FSN San Diego, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Andrew Cashner (4-7, 5.05 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (9-5, 4.15)

Cashner, who is rumored to be on the trade market, enhanced his value with a stellar performance last time out against San Francisco as he notched a season-high nine strikeouts while allowing one run and four hits over six innings. He was shelled by the Los Angeles Dodgers in his previous turn, surrendering eight runs - four homers - in 2 2/3 frames. Cashner stymied the Cardinals with six innings of one-run ball on April 22.

Last time out, Wainwright held Miami to three hits in his first shutout since 2014 to improve to 3-0 with a microscopic 0.39 ERA in three starts this month. Wainwright owned a brutal 6.80 ERA through his first eight turns this season but has shaved more than 2 1/2 runs off that number over his last 11 turns. He's 6-3 with a 1.99 ERA versus the Padres after giving up three runs over six innings in a loss at San Diego in April.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis has homered in 11 straight games, its longest streak since a club-record 19-game run in 2006.

2. Schimpf homered in both ends of the doubleheader and has launched six blasts in his last 10 games.

3. Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz has reached base in his last 23 games and is 13-for-19 against San Diego.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Padres 2