ST. LOUIS _ The story of the Padres' five straight series victories was told Wednesday night by a light-hitting shortstop in a one-pitch at-bat in the first inning of the team's 11th victory in 16 games.
With two outs and two runners on in the first inning, Freddy Galvis sent the first pitch he saw over the head of Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham, to the dirt and then up off the padded wall for a double that sent both runners home.
Plenty more would happen in the Padres' 4-2 victory.
Eric Lauer (3-4) threw five scoreless innings and survived another two-thirds, allowing two runs on a homer by Marcell Ozuna in the sixth inning. Fellow rookie left-hander Jose Castillo took over for Lauer to get the final out of the sixth with a strikeout and then struck out the side in the seventh.
After Kirby Yates sailed through another eighth inning and Brand Hand another ninth for his 21st save, the Padres had made it through a franchise-record third straight game without its pitchers allowing a walk.
Manuel Margot would extend his hitting streak to six games by going 3-for-4, and his triple in the seventh inning scored Franmil Reyes with what ended up being the deciding run. Raffy Lopez's broken-bat single scored Margot for the Padres's final run.
Eric Hosmer would get two hits again, as he so often does in Padres' victories.
But the double by Galvis that scored Cory Spangenberg and Christian Villanueva, whose two-out walk preceded Galvis' at-bat, was a big part of the foundation that has built this run of series victories _ the first time the Padres have won five straight since the beginning of the 2010 season.
It wasn't just the hit but the situation.
The Padres are batting .304 with runners in scoring position over the past five series. That includes a .286 mark with two outs.
So many of the Padres' hits early in the season, of which there weren't many, seemed like corn puffs or sugar cookies.
They aren't getting all that many more hits. But the ones they are getting seem more substantial. And they are putting the ball in play more, striking out less, walking more and executing more sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies.
"We don't have the empty innings," A.J. Ellis said before Wednesday's game. "We don't have the empty at-bats. We're getting more turnover. We're getting more plate appearances for our guys. The situational hitting has really stepped up, and everybody is being a part of it."
Galvis, for instance, finished 1-for-4. He is hitting .231 on the season and is only slightly better (10-for-41) over the past 12 games. But he has nine RBIs in those 12 games.
That is the crux of the resurgence of a team that on Friday improved to 33-37 after being 12 games under .500 (14-26) on May 11.
Hosmer, who in addition to leading the team in virtually every offensive category has essentially been an assistant coach for all his studying and sharing of knowledge, has preached "unselfish at-bats" all season.
He didn't have to search too hard when talking before Wednesday's game about a recent example _ a ground ball by pinch-hitter Villanueva in Tuesday's seventh inning that gave the Padres a cushion run in their 4-2 victory here. It was an at-bat that might have ended differently _ like in a strikeout or pop fly _ a month ago.
"His job is to get the run in," Hosmer said. "It's not look for a pitch in your zone. It's first ball you can put in play and get it in. ... Him going up there getting the bat on the ball and getting the run is one example of it.
"It's something winning teams do. Winning players take notice of that. That's what a lot of guys are doing _ making the most out of those opportunities."
