Cards open road trip with 11-3 loss to Padres

SAN DIEGO -- Cameron Maybin hit a two-run homer, Will Venable had three RBIs and the San Diego Padres handed the struggling St. Louis Cardinals an 11-3 loss on Monday night.

The loss dropped the Cardinals 9 1/2 games behind first-place Cincinnati in the NL Central. St. Louis, which has lost four of five, had its lead cut to one game over the idle Los Angeles Dodgers for the second NL wild-card berth.

Maybin connected for his seventh homer off Jaime Garcia (4-7) that broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning. Maybin had three hits and scored three runs.

Chris Denorfia tied his career high with four hits and also had two RBIs. Logan Forsythe added three hits to tie his career high as San Diego matched its season best for runs and had 17 hits.