SAN DIEGO - Just when the woeful, uninspiring offense of the San Diego Padres were down and out for the count, staring at a 2-0 deficit with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday at Petco Park, outfielder Nick Castellanos decided to play the hero at the plate.
Putting on his cape, the 34-year-old outlasted a 9 pitch at-bat against closer Riley O'Brien and connected on a sinker up and in the zone, sending the ball 105 mph to left-center field to tie the game at 2-2.
At that moment, the shift in momentum inside another sell-out crowd at Petco Park felt very real, and it was exactly what the Padres (24-16) ever so needed to avoid losing three of their last four series.
Later in the tenth inning facing reliever Gordon Graceffo, San Diego quickly had a bases loaded, no-out situation after Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. were walked. Manny Machado tacked on the winning run after hitting a first pitch sac-fly to score Ramón Laureano.
"I think we got good players that rise to the occasion which fun to see," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "It's a gene you can't teach but some our guys gave it definitely and they thrive in those situations when the energy is a little higher. They're able to calm down and do what they do best."
This seems to be the nutshell of the Padres season so far. They manage to rally late in games after lackluster offensive performances and for the most part, not having their pitching department kill any chance of them coming back.
Before the late inning heroics, this contest was very identical to Monday's contest when they were silenced by the Giants' RHP Trevor McDonald. Through 8 2/3 innings, the only hits they had came on a single in the third inning by Merrill and a double in the fourth inning by Xander Bogaerts.
Even with the pair of hits until that point, they had opportunities bring across some runners, leaving total of seven runners on base and going 0-for-7 with RISP.
Padres right-hander Walker Buehler had a very respectable six inning performance, allowing just three hits, two earned runs, rung up two strikeouts and didn't surrender a walk. In what could be his best performance since signing with San Diego, the 31-year-old retired the first 11 batters he faced and finished with a total of 89 pitches (57 counted for strikes) in his eighth start of the season.
His streak of batters retired ended during the fourth following a two-out single by Alec Burleson, which led to right-fielder Jordan Walker labeling a knuckle curve to the top level of the Western Metal Building for a two-run home run.
Before today's game, Buehler owned a 3-0 career record against the Cardinals, and with win, the club is now 4-0 when he pitches in at least five frames.
The bullpen, once again, were nails and played a pivotal part in the Padres win. Following Buehler's exit, reliever Ron Marinaccio came in the seventh and threw two strong, efficient scoreless innings.
Right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez pitched in the ninth inning and sat down the trio of batters he faced on five pitches. Right-hander Jeremiah Estrada recorded the first two outs and left-hander Adrian Morejon, who was credited with his third win, closed the door to finish off the tenth inning.
Including Buehler's final two outs in the sixth, Padres pitchers retired 13 consecutive batters until Estrada walked Masyn Winn. As a collective group, Padres relievers did not give up a hit and punched out five strikeouts.
Moving forward, the Padres recipe of winning games has to change if they to stay were they're at currently tied for first place in the NL West and tied for the fifth best record in the majors.
The Brown and Gold will have a day off on Monday before going on the road for their next six games against the Brewers and the Mariners. The expected pitching matchup for Tuesday will be right-hander Matt Waldron (1-1, 7.71 ERA) and RHP Brandon Sproat (0-2, 5.87 ERA).
*This article will be updated