ATLANTA – The Padres continued their winning ways against the Braves this season.
San Diego blasted three home runs on Sunday, lifting the Padres to a series-clinching 5-3 win over the Braves at Truist Park, improving San Diego to 6-1 against Atlanta this season.
Gavin Sheets hit a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the sixth and Jake Cronenworth struck a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the seventh. Manny Machado’s solo shot in the top of the eighth gave the Padres an insurance run.
"We [took care of] our business and we just found a way,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s one of those wins that makes you appreciate who this team is. I love this group and I absolutely couldn’t be more blessed to be part of this group. They showed up and got after it. Dylan [Cease] did a great job. [Jackson Merrill] got us on the board, [Sheets] did his thing to get us tied. [Cronenworth] and [Machado] gave us big swings to give us the lead.”
Sheets has hit four home runs in his last five games.
"I try to put the ball in play, I try to [hit for] contact [and] I try to go to all fields,” Sheets said. “Obviously I’m hitting for power right now, which is great, but I think that’s just because I’m putting the right swing on the right balls.”
Sheets’ home run was off a Spencer Schwellenbach 0-2 slider that was down, in and below the zone. He pulled it and sent it a Statcast-projected 423 feet over the right-field wall.
“[Schwellenbach] has good stuff obviously,” Sheets said. ‘I think with two strikes I was just trying to be as short to it as possible. For me it was releasing tension and trying to put something in play. He’s got really good stuff, so you just try to simplify as much as possible and try to get the barrel to the ball, which isn’t easy against a guy like him. I’m fired up about it.”
Machado went 2-for-4 with two runs scored on Sunday and finished 6-for-10 with two home runs and three RBIs in the series. Machado entered the series with a 63 at-bat homerless streak, which he broke on Friday.
"This is a huge one for us,” Machado said. “I think [Saturday], with [starting pitcher Michael] King going down, what our bullpen did was huge. Obviously we lost but they stepped up big time and they showed that fight. That led into [Sunday]. In the first inning we scored a run. We knew that wasn’t going to be enough. [The Braves] come back and we’re down. Sheets comes up huge.”
Though Schwellenbach tied his career high with 11 strikeouts, he gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits. It was the sixth time in his career (32 starts) that he’s given up multiple home runs in a game.
"He was dealing,” Machado said. “He’s probably one of the better pitchers I’ve faced in a long time. To go out there and compete with him and scratch across a couple of runs was huge.”
The Padres opened their season with a four-game sweep over Atlanta in San Diego before earning a road series win against the Braves.
“Obviously Opening [Week] is different because you have all that adrenaline,” Machado said. “We were able to play some really good games at home with the home crowd behind us. Coming here, that first game, facing [reigning National League] Cy Young winner [Chris Sale], we scratched and clawed and scored one more run than them. They came in [Saturday] and got us. [Sunday] they had another ace on the mound, and we were able to go out and compete. They’re a really good ballclub. Hopefully we see them down the road. It was a good series win for us.”
Cease allowed three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk over five innings. He has made it through at least five innings in seven of his 11 starts this season.