Dylan Cease allowed one hit over five innings, Jake Cronenworth and Ramon Laureano homered and the San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3 on Sunday. Cease (4-10) struck out nine with a walk as the Padres (62-50) won for the seventh time in eight games and moved three games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers

It was the Padres’ sixth consecutive victory, one shy of their longest winning streak of the season, and it got them back to a season-best 12 games above .500 for the first time since May 14. All but one of the new Padres were in their new uniforms Friday. Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes is expected to arrive Saturday.

Michael McGreevy, who survived a shaky start, turned over a 6-4 lead to the bullpen in the seventh inning and Kyle Leahy and JoJo Romero combined to record the final nine outs and complete the win over the Padres in San Diego.