Nick Castellanos late two-run HR lifts Padres, splitting series against Cardinals

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 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 were a single in the third inning by Merrill and a double in the fourth inning by Xander Bogaerts.

Even with the pair of hits at 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.

Before today's game, Buehler owned a 3-0 career record against the Cardinals, and the club is now 4-0 when he pitches in at least five frames.

The bullpen, once again, were nails and played pivotal part in the Padres win. Following Buehler's exit, reliever Ron Marinaccio came in the seventh and threw a 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 best record in the MLB.

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 will be right-hander Matt Waldron (1-1, 7.71 ERA) and RHP Brandon Sproat (0-2, 5.87 ERA).