The St. Louis Cardinals cruised to a 4-1 victory behind a strong start from Sonny Gray, splitting its series with the San Diego Padres.

Gray gave the Cardinals what they needed, going six innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He finished with four strikeouts.

The Cardinals took the lead in the third, scoring runs off an RBI groundout from Luken Baker and an RBI double from Paul Goldschmidt. Masyn Winn added a solo homer in the sixth, and Ivan Herrera drove in a run with a single in the eighth.

Ryan Helsley pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 41st save.

St. Louis gets back to .500 with the win, but remain 10.5 games back of Milwaukee in the NL Central.

The Cardinals are on the road to take on the New York Yankees for the start of a three game series on Friday, August 30.