Nick Castellanos late two-run HR lifts Padres, splitting series against Cardinals
Just when the Padres were down and out for the count, Nick Castellanos puts on the cape to spark the Padres in the bottom of the ninth inning.
May 10, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Nick Castellanos (21) has a cooler dumped over him after the Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park. SAN DIEGO - Just when the woeful, uninspiring offense of the San Diego Padres were down and out, looking 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 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 was very real and it was exactly what the Padres ever so needed to avoid losing their third of their last four series. Later in the tenth inning facing reliever Gordon Graceffo, San Diego quickly had a based 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. 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.