Tatis, Cronenworth homer to give Padres win against Braves
Published
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a leadoff homer and Jake Cronenworth hit a go-ahead shot leading off the eighth inning to give the San Diego Padres a 4-3 win against the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
Cronenworth drove the second pitch from Dylan Lee (0-1) several rows into the right field seats.
Tatis, who has batted leadoff in the first two games, homered to left-center on Reynaldo López's first pitch. It was Tatis’ 12th career leadoff homer, extending his club record.
Jarred Kelenic homered for the Braves in this rematch of last season’s wild-card playoff series won by the Padres in a two-game sweep.
The Padres went ahead twice and the Braves tied it each time.
Tatis’ homer and Martin Maldonado’s RBI single in the second gave them a 2-0 lead before Marcell Ozuna tied it with a two-out single to right in the third.
San Diego’s Xander Bogaerts hit a two-out RBI double in the second. Kelenic tied it with his leadoff shot into the home run porch in the right-field corner.
Jason Adam (1-0) struck out the side against one walk in the eighth for the win. Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth for his second save. Suarez was hit on the lower leg by Drake Baldwin's comebacker leading off the inning but remained the game.
Key moment
With Marcell Ozuna on third base and two outs in the sixth, Baldwin hit a comebacker that appeared to hit Padres reliever Adrian Morejon on the backside. The right-hander recovered, fielded the ball and threw to first to keep the game tied at 3. He smiled as he walked to the dugout.
Key stat
San Diego's Jackson Merrill, runner-up to Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes in the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year balloting, had his 15th career three-hit game. He drove in four runs in a 7-4 win on Thursday.
Up next
Braves RHP Spencer Schwellenbach and Padres RHP Randy Vásquez are scheduled to start Saturday night.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB