<img alt="Atlanta Braves v San Diego Padres" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5AUW3r50DCLcdFfaDCMCTROEohk=/0x0:5760x3840/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73459461/2161347511.0.jpg">
Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images
The Braves’ offense failed to do much at all Saturday, as the Padres got what they needed from some small ball and a late homer. We were treated to a really good pitching matchup in a Saturday night primetime matchup with two really good pitchers on the mound in Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease.
Each pitcher allowed one baserunner in the first, with a walk from Cease and a single off Lopez. Austin Riley put a charge in one off Cease, but just barely got under it for a flyout. The Padres scored the first run of the game in the second, as a leadoff bloop single from Machado converted to a run with an RBI double off the bat of David Peralta. Other than a few scattered hits and walks, however, the pitchers largely cruised early. Cease was more dominant, striking out eight Braves through five innings, but Lopez was under control and not issuing walks. The Braves’ biggest threat through five innings came from two one out walks from Cease. Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario were unable to convert the opportunity into runs, however.
The Padres scored again in the fifth with the same model as earlier in the game. The inning started with a single and a double play. The Padres then got another baserunner on a Tyler Wade ground ball to Matt Olson, as Lopez failed to cover the base in time. Wade stole second base and was brought home by a Arraez line drive double. Lopez held the Padres there, with a groundout to end the inning, 2-0 Padres. Meanwhile, Cease finished his spectacular one-hit outing with a masterful flourish, striking out Albies, Riley, and Olson in order in the sixth.
Lopez was allowed to start the sixth, facing Cronenworth for the third time with nobody warming in the pen. With one out, Manny Machado absolutely scorched a line drive at 115.6 MPH off the outstretched glove of Arcia for a single, and Solano followed with a single of his own. With Lopez still pitching, Merrill grounded into what could have been a tough double-play, but was only a force-out, and another David Peralta single gave the Padres a 3-0 lead.
Finally facing San Diego’s bullpen, Ozuna led off the seventh with a single, but two easy pop-ups from Duvall and Rosario and a deep flyout from Murphy ended the inning with no progress on erasing the deficit. Aaron Bummer got the seventh for Atlanta and handled the 9-1-2 hitters for San Diego, striking out the side. Ozzie whacked a double off the wall in left-center with two outs in the eighth and reached third on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, Austin Riley struck out looking on a splitter that was probably an inch off the top outside corner of the plate. Jesse Chavez got the bottom of the eighth and allowed a one out solo shot to Manny Machado to dead center, extending the Padres’ lead to 4-0. Jesse was lucky to not allow another run in the inning, as he allowed a .850 xBA lineout and a double before a soft inning-ending groundout.
Robert Suarez came in to finish the game for San Diego and quickly got the first two outs of the inning, before Duvall got very fortunate to see a pop-up fall in for a single just inside the right field line. Eddie Rosario kept the line moving with a line drive single, moving Duvall over to third. Sean Murphy could have reached on a catcher’s interference call that wasn’t called, but grounded out to short, ending the game.
This was largely a game in which the Padres’ pitching staff kept the Braves off the bases and the Braves’ pitching staff didn’t strike out enough Padres to stop them from getting some runs on pure sequencing, plus the Machado homer late. The Braves’ offense did not hit the ball, hard enough, often enough to have a chance in this game.
On we move to the rubber-match tomorrow at 4:10 PM ET, with day 1 of the MLB Draft starting at 7.PM ET.
<img alt="Atlanta Braves v San Diego Padres" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5AUW3r50DCLcdFfaDCMCTROEohk=/0x0:5760x3840/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73459461/2161347511.0.jpg">
Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images
The Braves’ offense failed to do much at all Saturday, as the Padres got what they needed from some small ball and a late homer. We were treated to a really good pitching matchup in a Saturday night primetime matchup with two really good pitchers on the mound in Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease.
Each pitcher allowed one baserunner in the first, with a walk from Cease and a single off Lopez. Austin Riley put a charge in one off Cease, but just barely got under it for a flyout. The Padres scored the first run of the game in the second, as a leadoff bloop single from Machado converted to a run with an RBI double off the bat of David Peralta. Other than a few scattered hits and walks, however, the pitchers largely cruised early. Cease was more dominant, striking out eight Braves through five innings, but Lopez was under control and not issuing walks. The Braves’ biggest threat through five innings came from two one out walks from Cease. Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario were unable to convert the opportunity into runs, however.
The Padres scored again in the fifth with the same model as earlier in the game. The inning started with a single and a double play. The Padres then got another baserunner on a Tyler Wade ground ball to Matt Olson, as Lopez failed to cover the base in time. Wade stole second base and was brought home by a Arraez line drive double. Lopez held the Padres there, with a groundout to end the inning, 2-0 Padres. Meanwhile, Cease finished his spectacular one-hit outing with a masterful flourish, striking out Albies, Riley, and Olson in order in the sixth.
Lopez was allowed to start the sixth, facing Cronenworth for the third time with nobody warming in the pen. With one out, Manny Machado absolutely scorched a line drive at 115.6 MPH off the outstretched glove of Arcia for a single, and Solano followed with a single of his own. With Lopez still pitching, Merrill grounded into what could have been a tough double-play, but was only a force-out, and another David Peralta single gave the Padres a 3-0 lead.
Finally facing San Diego’s bullpen, Ozuna led off the seventh with a single, but two easy pop-ups from Duvall and Rosario and a deep flyout from Murphy ended the inning with no progress on erasing the deficit. Aaron Bummer got the seventh for Atlanta and handled the 9-1-2 hitters for San Diego, striking out the side. Ozzie whacked a double off the wall in left-center with two outs in the eighth and reached third on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, Austin Riley struck out looking on a splitter that was probably an inch off the top outside corner of the plate. Jesse Chavez got the bottom of the eighth and allowed a one out solo shot to Manny Machado to dead center, extending the Padres’ lead to 4-0. Jesse was lucky to not allow another run in the inning, as he allowed a .850 xBA lineout and a double before a soft inning-ending groundout.
Robert Suarez came in to finish the game for San Diego and quickly got the first two outs of the inning, before Duvall got very fortunate to see a pop-up fall in for a single just inside the right field line. Eddie Rosario kept the line moving with a line drive single, moving Duvall over to third. Sean Murphy could have reached on a catcher’s interference call that wasn’t called, but grounded out to short, ending the game.
This was largely a game in which the Padres’ pitching staff kept the Braves off the bases and the Braves’ pitching staff didn’t strike out enough Padres to stop them from getting some runs on pure sequencing, plus the Machado homer late. The Braves’ offense did not hit the ball, hard enough, often enough to have a chance in this game.
On we move to the rubber-match tomorrow at 4:10 PM ET, with day 1 of the MLB Draft starting at 7.PM ET.
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