Miami Marlins reliever Anthony Bender is a very popular name among teams looking to buy leading up to Thursday's trade deadline.

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.

A year later, the Padres find themselves in slightly better standing. They are 55-49, one game ahead of their 54-50 record last July 24. They are also entering dangerous territory. The wins and losses tell a story of year-over-year improvement. The recent trend lines do not.

After benches and bullpens cleared during the previous two games in St. Louis, the Cardinals will host the Padres in the finale of a four-game series. St. Louis won 9-7 Thursday and 3-0 Friday, then the Padres prevailed 3-1 Saturday night. Cardinals slugger Willson Contreras and Padres star Manny Machado each got hit twice by pitches.

San Diego is 18-21 in road games and 39-33 overall. The Padres have the ninth-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .316. The matchup Wednesday is the sixth time these teams meet this season.

The Padres found themselves in a familiar place Sunday after a 2-1 loss to the Phillies. They had not gained ground. They had not lost any.

Its Friday, July 18 and the Padres (52-44) are in Washington to take on the Nationals (38-58). Dylan Cease is slated to take the mound for San Diego against Michael Soroka for Washington.