Padres Bats, Yu Darvish Travel to Atlanta in Sunday Night Baseball Loss

The Atlanta Braves scored early and often against the San Diego Padres, losing Sunday night’s game 9-1 at Truist Park.

Here’s what you need to know about the competition.

Elder’s struggles began early in this one, resulting in the shortest outing of his career.

The sinker allowed four runs in the first inning, all (frustratingly) with two outs. He issued a walk, was scored for a two-run homer, then allowed three straight singles before finally getting out of the inning on the 41st pitch of the frame.

Elder reached the 4th but did not record an out, ultimately being charged with seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and three walks, recording three strikeouts and throwing 93 pitches (54 strikes) for the TO DO. He is now 1-2 and his ERA is 6.46 after this one.

Zooming in a bit, the right-hander allowed fifteen earned runs in 11.2 innings over three starts in May, walking seven and allowing four home runs. He will next line up to face the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road this Friday, although it remains an open question whether he will still be on the roster at that point or if the team goes with another option from the Gwinnett’s Triple-A rotation.

Elder’s struggles were amplified by the excellence of Padres starter Yu Darvish, who entered tonight’s game with an eighteen scoreless inning streak and extended it with seven scoreless innings. -this. (This is both the longest streak for a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB history and the longest streak for a pitcher 37 years or older in MLB history.) Darvish has not allowed only three baserunners on two hits and one walk while striking out nine and, at one point, sitting thirteen consecutive batters.

With the caveat that Atlanta faced the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and now the second-place Padres, the Braves have notably struggled against the NL West recently.

Tonight’s loss cements five straight losses to the West, dating back to the Dodgers’ sweep in Los Angeles to open the month of May. The Braves were outscored 32-7 during this stretch.

The Padres have now won ten of their last thirteen games in Atlanta, dating back to 2021, outscoring the Braves by thirty-nine points during that stretch (81-42).

Over the last thirty days, the Braves have scored 79 runs (24 games), the lowest total in the MLB, with the second lowest total coming from the Toronto Blue Jays (86 runs in 25 games).

Atlanta’s batting average over the past thirty days is fourth lowest at .218 (tied with the Washington Nationals), while they are tied for last in home runs (19) with the Washington Diamondbacks. Arizona, Kansas City Royals and Washington. Their hitting .337 is third lowest, while their 171 hits are the lowest in the league.

For returning most of the same roster that tied the all-time single-season record and led the league in points scored, the lack of production for the last month is absolutely wild. The worst part is that there is no easy solution either. Most of the data is good: Atlanta’s hard hit rate (43.8%) and average exit velocity (90.3 mph) over the last seventeen games are both FIRST in baseball, but the results… are just not there.

Atlanta makes up for Saturday’s rain with a doubleheader tomorrow to finish this series. The Braves send Reynaldo López to the mound in Game 1 and Chris Sale in Game 2, while the Padres will send the duo of Randy Vásquez and Dylan Cease in an order yet to be determined. The first game is scheduled for 12:20 p.m. ET and the second game is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. ET.