The Cardinals and their red-hot offense will try to win a fourth straight game for the first time in nearly six weeks on Saturday when they continue their series with the visiting San Diego Padres.

St. Louis (55-43) got Pujols back from the disabled list at the end of June, but went through an offensive slump to start July. The Cardinals scored only 25 runs in a nine-game stretch at the beginning of the month, but their offense has taken off since then.

They scored 28 runs in taking two of three in Pittsburgh before the All-Star break, and their bats haven't cooled off. St. Louis hit four solo homers to beat the Padres (37-60) on Thursday, then pounded out 17 hits - including two homers - on Friday in a come-from-behind, 11-7 win.

The Cardinals have hit 39 homers since June 19, the most in baseball.

"Home runs are like everything else," third baseman Troy Glaus, who has hit four in his last five games, told the team's official Web site. "You can't sit back and wait for them every day, but it's nice when you do get them."

It was the third time in five games that the Cardinals have scored 11 runs. They'd scored that many twice in their first 93 games.

Pujols has certainly been getting on base - he's hitting .440 (11-for-25) in his last six games - but he only has a homer and three RBIs this month. Instead, it's been the rest of the lineup that's stepped up.

Center fielder Rick Ankiel is 10-for-18 (.556) with eight RBIs in his last five games, and hit his third homer in that stretch on Friday, tying the score at 7 in the seventh inning.

"Great at-bat," right fielder Ryan Ludwick said of Ankiel's trip to the plate in the seventh. "Every day he does something that seems to amaze you."

Ankiel hasn't been alone. Ludwick homered for the fourth straight game on Friday, hitting a three-run shot in the fourth.

St. Louis may need another impressive offensive effort with the way Todd Wellemeyer (7-4, 4.04 ERA) has been pitching lately. Wellemeyer is 0-3 with a 7.66 ERA in his last five starts. He gave up four runs over 6 1-3 innings but didn't factor in the decision in the Cardinals' 12-11 loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Wellemeyer's only career start against the Padres came on May 19. The right-hander allowed two runs and six hits over six innings, picking up the victory in St. Louis' 8-2 win.

San Diego has lost four straight and has won just six times in its last 27 games. The Padres are the second-lowest scoring team in the majors, and most of the time, if All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez isn't hitting, neither is San Diego.

Gonzalez is struggling at the plate thus far in July, hitting .208 with four RBIs, and the Padres have scored 3.3 runs per game this month.

Randy Wolf (6-9, 4.66) will try to help San Diego snap its losing streak, but he hasn't pitched well for much of the last month. The left-hander is 1-5 with a 7.06 ERA in his last six starts, which included giving up six runs over five-plus innings in a 12-3 loss to Atlanta on Sunday.

Wolf hasn't made a start at St. Louis since 1999.