ST. LOUIS -- Jedd Gyorko continued his all-out assault on the team thatbrought him into the major leagues.
Gyorko clouted two homers on Wednesday night, giving him six in his last five games against the San Diego Padres, as the St. Louis Cardinals took a 3-2 win to cap a doubleheader sweep at Busch Stadium.
After cracking a two-run shot in a 4-2 victory in the opener, Gyorko added to his considerable resume against San Diego, for whom he belted 49 homers from 2013 to 2015 before being dealt to St. Louis in December for Jon Jay.
In the first three games of this four-game set, Gyorko is 7-for-10 with four homers and six RBIs. More than half of his 11 homers this year have happened against Padres pitching.
Jaime Garcia (7-6) picked up the win after working 5 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and a run with two walks and four strikeouts. Five relievers combined for the final 10 outs, with Seung Hwan Oh working the ninth for his fourth save of the year and his second of the day.
Spot starter Paul Clemens (1-1) absorbed the loss, going five innings and giving up four hits and three runs. He issued two walks and whiffed five.
Matt Kemp and Ryan Schimpf clouted solo homers for San Diego (41-54), which extended its franchise record of homers in consecutive games to 18. It also matches the National League's longest streak in six years, dating to the 2010 Cincinnati Reds.
The Cardinals (50-44) gained a game and a half on Miami, a 4-1 loser in Philadelphia, and are now just a game out of the second wild-card spot in the NL.
St. Louis started the scoring in its half of the third when Gyorko bedeviled his former team again, cracking a first-pitch homer into the San Diego bullpen in left field. It was the 10th homer for Gyorko and his fifth in as many games against Padres pitching.
Garcia made the run stand up through five innings, repelling a serious threat in the fifth. After San Diego got singles from Adam Rosales and Alexei Ramirez to put men at first and third with no outs, Garcia fanned Clemens after two failed bunt attempts.
Travis Jankowski's failed safety squeeze got Rosales cut down at the plate on a close play, and Garcia induced an inning-ending groundout from Wil Myers.
Gyorko then made it six homers in five games against the Padres with a two-run, 420-foot blast in the fifth for a 3-0 lead.
NOTES: St. Louis recalled LHP Dean Kiekhefer from Triple-A Memphis Wednesday to serve as the 26th man for the doubleheader. Kiekhefer was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA in 11 appearances earlier this season. ... San Diego recalled LHP Keith Hessler as its 26th man for the doubleheader. Hessler, who was claimed off waivers from Arizona in May, was 1-1 with a 3.91 ERA and a save at Triple-A El Paso. ... St. Louis started the four players who didn't start in Game 1 -- SS Greg Garcia, CF Tommy Pham, LF Jeremy Hazelbaker and C Alberto Rosario -- in the nightcap.