Padres Start Tough Road Trip With MLB-Best Cardinals

Jun 18, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; St Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (left), shortstop Jhonny Peralta (27), first baseman Mark Reynolds (12) and second baseman Kolten Wong (right) in the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Minnesota Twins beat the St Louis Cardinals 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres (37-43) are in a rough stretch at the beginning of July. They have not scored a run in 21 straight innings and in both games against the Seattle Mariners, they were one-hit by the starting pitcher (though Taijuan Walker only went 6 innings).

The Padres now start what could be their most difficult road trip of the season. Each team they will face (St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers) currently has a winning record. The Cardinals (51-26) are the best team in all of baseball right now as the only team in the majors with a winning percentage above .600. The Cardinals, like the Padres, are coming off of losing both games of a brief interleague series. They dropped both home games to the Chicago White Sox. The Cardinals are 29-9 at home, the Padres 19-21 on the road. The Friars start a four-game, weekend set with the Cardinals on Thursday.

Cory Spangenberg is on the DL and will be out for at least two weeks. Will Middlebrooks is still sore but may appear in this series with the Cardinals, no DL trip for him as of now. Wil Myers has his cast off and could resume baseball activities in a month.