At the end of the day on paper, it’s going to go down as a four-game series win at home for the Braves over the Padres. If you look at these two teams and their current records, it’s not something that appears to be shocking. The Braves are now one of only three teams in baseball with 60 wins, so that’s cool. With that being said, we all know the recent history that the Braves and Padres have so the fact that Atlanta was able to finally take a series against this crew feels like a bit of a breakthrough.
With that being said, it certainly wasn’t easy and this wasn’t a case of the Padres not playing the Braves extremely tough. The three wins for Atlanta could’ve gone either way and they were extremely nervy to watch near the end of each of those wins. Fortunately, Atlanta did hang on and now we’ve got a happy series recap to look forward to. Let’s get into it!
Monday, July 20
Braves 3, Padres 2
Bryce Elder’s first start since July 9 ended up being a successful one, which was a sight for sore eyes considering how this team had fared against the Padres heading into this series. Indeed, the only two blemishes on Elder’s line for the night were of his usual variety — meaning that he hung two pitches and they both got demolished.
Manny Machado (what else is new) and Ty France (on Elder’s final pitch of the game) ended up being the beneficiaries but other than that, Elder ended up with a very solid line of six innings pitched, four strikeouts and just one walk allowed and five hits given up. Elder was in dire need of a start like this and fortunately it came against a team that the Braves have been struggling against recently.
Those two mistakes on Elder’s part ended up being the only runs that the Padres would push across on the night, as Danny Young and Victor Mederos came up huge in order to make sure that Atlanta’s slender lead held up. The Braves got there thanks to a homer from Michael Harris II in the fifth inning that tied it up at one, an RBI double from Joey Bart that pushed the Braves in front in that same fifth inning and then a dinger from Ozzie in the sixth that gave the Braves the insurance that ended up being enough for them to win. This was certainly a nervy one but Atlanta was able to squeak it out in the end in order to get the series started off on the right foot.
Tuesday, July 21
Padres 8, Braves 3
The first three innings of this game went pretty well for Atlanta, as the Braves pushed ahead to a 2-1 lead early on. Then the middle innings rolled around and things got away from Reynaldo López and the Braves. Jackson Merrill led off the fourth by tying it up with one big swing and then Fernando Tatis Jr. continued to be one of the most dangerous hitters in all of baseball with runners in scoring position as he drove in Xander Bogaerts to push the Padres ahead by two. The Padres homered to lead off the fifth as well, as Manny Machado delivered yet another big hit against the Braves and the fifth inning ended up being the end of the line for López in what turned out to be an underwhelming start.
Manny Machado then added another homer to his tally (again, what else is new for him against the Braves) in the sixth inning and then after the Braves got a run back in the seventh thanks to Bradgley Rodriguez balking in a run, Fernando Tatis Jr. got that run back (and then another one on top of that) in emphatic fashion. JR Ritchie threw Tatis a curveball that didn’t fool him at all. 474 feet later, it was 8-3 Padres and that’s how yet another loss to the Padres ended.
Wednesday, July 22
Braves 7, Padres 6
It is just never easy with the Padres, huh! Good grief! Somehow, a game where the Braves were up 7-1 at one point was tight throughout, as even that bit of breathing room didn’t last long for Atlanta against San Diego. The Braves got a run off of Michael King in the first inning but any aspirations of this being a breakout game against King were immediately squashed as the Braves were unable to get much of anything going against King from that point forward.
Fortunately, Martín Pérez was up to the task of keeping the Padres quiet for at least a few innings and the bullpen was able to continue holding San Diego at bay until the seventh inning. That’s when Didier Fuentes gave up a dinger on an 0-2 pitch to Jackson Merrill to make it a tie game at one run apiece.
Then the bottom of the eighth inning rolled around and the stuff started hitting the fan. San Diego left the bases loaded in the seventh and they wound up cursing their luck for the rare missed opportunity (against Atlanta, at least) as the Braves put a crooked number on the scoreboard once they got to swing the bat in the eighth inning. Jim Jarvis put Atlanta ahead with an RBI double and that was the beginning of the hit parade. Brewer Hicklen mashed an RBI double down the line and then Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Dominic Smith all delivered RBI singles of their own to bring us to the aforementioned 7-1 scoreline.
Victor Mederos was called upon for the ninth inning and honestly, this felt like Walt Weiss was really trying to see just how long this magical run that Mederos has been on during this homestand would last. Unfortunately, this was when the bubble burst because San Diego ended up tagging him for four runs — including two on an RBI triple from Fernando Tatis Jr. because the man is just a machine while batting with RISP.
The triple made it 7-4, which meant that it was time for Raisel Iglesias and even then, Iggy somehow gave up Luis Rengifo’s first home run since September 2025. In a stunning twist of fate, Manny Machado did not add to Atlanta’s misery at this point as he struck out and then Iggy sat down Ty France on a called strike three to avoid what would’ve been a nightmarish loss to the Padres. Thank you for not losing on So So Def Night, Braves.
Thursday, July 23
Braves 6, Padres 5
The second inning of this contest was emblematic of how it’s felt to watch the Braves play the Padres over recent years. Chris Sale had just gotten done pitching a scoreless first inning but ran into trouble after a seeing-eye single, a single off a ball that Mauricio Dubón lost in the sun and a hit-by-pitch. Sale wisely pitched around Fernando Tatis Jr. in the bases-loaded situation and ended up conceding a run in the process via a walk but you figure that was better than conceding four. Unfortunately, Sale ended up conceding three runs in the inning anyways after Luis Rengifo struck again. Rengifo looped in an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch with two outs to make it 3-0 Padres after two innings.
The rest of the game ended up emblematic of things being different for the Braves against the Padres this time around — still tough, but different! The comeback began with Michael Harris II rudely welcoming bulk pitcher Griffin Canning to the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning and then a big fourth inning pushed Atlanta out in front. Ozzie led off the fourth inning by bopping one into the seats in right-center field and then Dominic Smith had his first really big moment in a while as he crushed a changeup from Canning and sent it flying into the Chop House to put the Braves in the lead with one colossal swat.
Chris Sale didn’t give up any more runs after that strange second inning (and ended up striking out 11 batters) and so the Braves ended up cruising into the final stage of the game with the lead. They got what appeared to be just another insurance run in wild fashion after Drake Baldwin hit a dinger on a pitch that has to be seen to be believed.
Baldwin’s insane dinger ended up being crucial after Ty France homered off of Tyler Kinley in the ninth to make it 6-5. The Padres attempted a two-out rally against Raisel Iglesias in the ninth but Iggy was able to close the door and ensure that the Braves were finally able to figure out a way to slay their boogeyman over the course of a four-game series.
I’m scratching my head right now trying to figure out a more stressful four-game series win for the Braves than what we just witnessed. The three Braves victories were all by one run and they had to pull out two of those victories while the Padres had the potential go-ahead run either on base or at the plate. Atlanta even lost the series on run aggregate as they scored 19 runs to San Diego’s 21 but they won the series in the only category that counts and that’s all that matters.
Still, these games could’ve gone either way and it very well could’ve been another nightmare against the Padres. Fortunately it wasn’t and now the Braves have actually turned this homestand into an incredibly-productive 5-2 run to start the second half of the season. It’s especially nice considering that the Phillies have stumbled coming out of the break and the Marlins have crashed back down to earth, themselves. Plus with the way the offense has been hitting throughout the month of July, you really get the feeling that the Braves are back to being in serious control of things in the NL East after wobbling throughout the month of June.
Drake Baldwin appears to have returned to the form that made him one of the most dangerous-hitting catchers in all of baseball, Michael Harris II continues to have a big season at the plate, the same goes for Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley continued to show signs of potentially getting out of this season-long slump that he’s been in. With Matt Olson continuing to be steady at the plate as well, it’s very good sign for the Braves to see all of these guys doing damage at the plate and their efforts went a long way towards ensuring that Atlanta would get out of this four-game series by taking three out of four.
There’s not going to be a lot of rest for the weary, though. Fresh off of finding a way to vanquish their personal boogeyman, the Braves will now be traveling to Baltimore to face off against an O’s team that has been pretty hot in July. They may not be on a winning streak anymore but the Orioles did end Boston’s double-digit win streak so Baltimore won’t be a pushover by any means. With that being said, as long as the Braves can continue to produce at the plate like they have so far during July, I think we’re back to liking Atlanta’s chances against anybody that they face on a nightly basis. We’ll see what happens, though!
