Ronald Acuna Jr. homered for the second straight game and Grant Holmes pitched seven strong innings to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 7-1 win over the visiting San Diego Padres on Saturday and even their three-game series.
The win ended Atlanta’s three-game losing streak and was their first in six games against San Diego.
Acuna hit a 427-foot, two-run homer to left-center field in the sixth inning off reliever Alek Jacob. Acuna has homered in both games since returning from left ACL surgery that kept him sidelined for a year.
Holmes (3-3) scattered six hits and recorded six strikeouts against one walk. It was his first win since April 20. Enyel De Los Santos pitched a scoreless eighth and Scott Blewett worked around a pair of two-out walks in the ninth to finish the game.
San Diego had to go with a bullpen game when scheduled starter Michael King complained of right shoulder soreness and was scratched an hour before first pitch.
Sean Reynolds (0-1) was the opener, making his first career start, and went 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with one strikeout.
The Braves opened the scoring with a run in the second as Alex Verdugo scored on Nick Allen’s infield single.
The Padres tied the game 1-1 in the third inning on Manny Machado’s RBI single. Machado went 2-for-2 with two walks and has hit safely in 17 of the last 22 games, lifting his average to .317.
Atlanta scored twice in the third inning on a solo homer from Matt Olson and a run-scoring infield single from Ozzie Albies, which extended his hitting streak to 10 games. The home run was Olson’s 12th and his fifth over the last seven games.
The Braves broke it open in the seventh when Michael Harris II singled to right with the bases loaded to drive in a pair.
San Diego placed outfielder Jason Heyward on the injured list with a left oblique strain and recalled catcher Luis Campusano from Triple-A El Paso. Campusano walked as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
