ATLANTA—
Matt Waldron kept a game from getting away from him early, and then he got a rare lead.
Then Padres manager Mike Shildt did something rare, having closer Robert Suarez work the eighth inning against the top of the Braves order and turning to Jeremiah Estrada to close out the game for his first career save.
The Padres hitters also did something that has been rare of late, getting a bunch of hits against Max Fried.
It all added up to something that had not happened this week — a Padres victory, this one 3-1 over the Braves at Truist Park.
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In winning his second game of the season and helping the Padres stop a losing streak at three games, Waldron outdueled Fried, who had come into the game having been practically unhittable for the better part of a month.
“We faced a really good pitcher tonight in Fried,” Shildt said. “The guy is having a heck of a year, and I just loved our approaches.”
Padres second baseman Luis Arraez (4) reacts to a pitch.
(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)
The Padres, who finished with 13 singles, had at least one man reach base in every inning against Fried and knocked him from the game with three runs in the fifth.
Run-scoring singles by Jurickson Profar and Jake Cronenworth and an RBI fielder’s choice grounder by Manny Machado turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
That was the Padres’ first time being ahead since Sunday, and a rarity in a game started by Waldron.
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A lead — or three runs of support for that matter — was not something Waldron was accustomed to. Friday was just the third game in which he had one.
That had been partly his own doing. He has had some clunkers in which he did not give the Padres a fighting chance. But he also had gone at least five innings while allowing no more than two runs, and he had earned the win in only one of those. The Padres had scored a total of 18 runs in his previous eight starts — 14 while he was in those games.
Padres first baseman Jake Cronenworth (9) hits a single against the Braves.
(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)
Friday did not start great.
Three pitches in, Waldron was in trouble when Ronald Acuña Jr. singled and Ozzie Albies doubled to bring up major league RBI leader Marcell Ozuna.
“The first inning was like, ‘Oh, here we go again,’” Waldron said. “... But it didn’t cross my mind … to be three innings and done. I’m not gonna let that happen. It was shaky there, but it just meant I had to make some adjustments.”
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Waldron struck out Ozuna before Matt Olson followed with a single to left field that scored Acuña. But Albies was thrown out at third on the back end of the play, as Machado took the throw from Profar and reached down and back between his legs to tag Albies.
A replay review may have resulted in the call being reversed, but Braves manager Brian Snitker’s request to have the play reviewed came after the allowable 15 seconds.
Waldron struck out Travis d’Arnaud to end the inning and would go on to record 10 strikeouts, more than in any of his previous 14 career starts. He allowed just two more hits and walked one while making it through 5⅔ innings.
The Padres got nine hits against Fried, two more than he had allowed in his previous four starts.
The left-hander allowed the Dodgers four runs on four hits and three walks on May 5.
That was sandwiched by a six-inning outing and a seven-inning outing in which he did not allow a hit. Four starts ago, he threw a three-hit shutout.
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Jeremiah Estrada, left celebrates after getting the final out.
(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)
The Padres had him pitching out of the stretch a lot.
They had at least one runner in each of the first four innings before breaking through in the fifth when their first four Padres batters reached safely.
Arraez led off with a single, Tatis followed with a walk, and a single by Profar tied the game and moved Tatis to third. He scored on a single by Cronenworth, which also advanced Profar to third. Machado followed with a grounder to shortstop that scored Profar.
A single by Xander Bogaerts brought Snitker from the dugout to replace Fried with Aaron Bummer.
The Padres got just four more hits. But Waldron and four relievers finished the job, as the Padres won for just the fifth time this season when scoring fewer than four runs.
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Waldron left a man on first base for Yuki Matsui, who struck out Michael Harris II to end the sixth. Enyel De Los Santos took over for Matsui with a man on in the seventh and retired both batters he faced.
Then it was Suarez’s turn.
“Before the game you look at the spot that clearly is (the) tough part of their lineup at the very top, and you know outside of Albies, who we prefer to have on the left side, it’s a righty lane,” Shildt said. “In a close game, it was just time for Robert to go do that. We’re not going to do it all the time. (It is) based on who we’re playing, where we’re at. But it made sense in the moment, and trusted Jeremiah to bring it home.”
