None of that stopped San Diego from playing Atlanta tough for six innings. The Padres scratched across a run in the 4th and didn't fold, but this Braves team has made a habit of finding just enough offense at home, and Monday was no different.
Atlanta strung together the two runs it needed in the 4th and tacked on another in the 5th, and that was the difference in a game that stayed tight into the late innings. San Diego's bullpen did its job limiting the damage, but a 1-for-9 showing with runners in scoring position summed up a night where the Padres out-hit Atlanta 7-4 and still came up short.
Give the Padres credit for the fight — down Musgrove, Pivetta and Darvish, and now missing Miguel Andujar after Monday's wrist fracture, this is a lineup running on fumes in spots. San Diego also lost Samad Taylor to a side injury this month, which hasn't helped a group that's been streaky all season, following a blowout 19-2 win over Kansas City with back-to-back losses right before it.
For Atlanta, this is exactly the kind of low-scoring, close-and-late win a first-place team needs to bank. The Braves have led the NL East all summer, and even on a night their bats didn't erupt the way they have during this recent power surge, the pitching and just enough timely hitting got it done. That's a formula San Diego needs to solve fast if it wants to salvage anything out of this four-game set.