Padres cannot overcome Griffin Canning, lose to Braves

For the third time in the four-game series the San Diego Padres lost a one-run game to the Atlanta Braves. The Padres struck first against Braves pitcher Chris Sale with a three-run second inning, but after a four-run fourth inning the Braves held a 5-3 lead and that deficit proved too much to overcome as San Diego dropped the game and the series with a 6-5 loss.

Kyle Hart started the game as an opener for Griffin Canning and recorded three outs against three batters to start the contest. Hart, a left-hander, faced two left-handed hitters and a switch-hitter in Ozzie Albies who batted from the right side. Michael Harris II led off the bottom of the second for the Braves and rather than continuing with the left-on-left matchup, Padres manager Craig Stammen went to Canning, a right-hander, in the second inning. Harris immediately got the home team on the board with a long home run to right field to make the score, 3-1.

Canning got the next three batters out to end the second inning and faced the minimum three batters in the third. He opened the fourth inning allowing a solo home run to Albies to make the score, 3-2 before getting Matt Olson to pop out. Canning allowed a one-out single to Harris and Mauricio Dubon reached on a catcher’s interference, the second one this week on Freddy Fermin, and Canning responded with a strikeout of Austin Riley. Canning was almost out of the inning, but Dominic Smith hit a 1-1 changeup that was left up and out over the plate over the right-field wall and Atlanta took a 5-3 lead.

The Braves tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh when Baldwin golfed a home run out to right field off Matt Waldron, but that proved to be the game-winner. The Padres scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning when Manny Machado singled and Ty France brought him in with a two-run home run to pull San Diego within a run.

The Padres mounted a two-out rally in the ninth inning against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias when Jake Cronenworth and Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on back-to-back singles. Luis Rengifo who has been arguably San Diego’s hottest hitter, stepped in looking for a base hit to tie the game, but struck out on a high fastball on an 0-2 count to end the game.

The Padres are 2-5 after the All-Star break and start a three-game series in Miami against the Marlins today at 4:10 p.m.

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