The Braves showed some life late in Tuesday night's matchup against the Padres, but it wasn't enough to overcome a poor outing from Cory Gearrin. Minor pitched six so-so innings, but exited in the seventh after walking pinch hitter Eric Patterson to lead off the seventh with the game tied up at two apiece. Gearrin came in and gave up four singles to the offensive murderer's row of Denorfia, Headley, Ludwick, and Cantu that resulted in three runs and a lead that the Padres wouldn't relinquish.
The San Diego bullpen showed that they aren't invincible tonight, but with a three run lead, the Padres offense had provided enough of a cushion to earn the W against the Braves. Chipper tried his best to get the Braves back into the game with RBI singles in the seventh and ninth to score Diory Hernandez and Jordan Schafer. McCann followed with a pop out that ultimately gave Heath Bell the save and the Padres a second consecutive series win over NL East opponents.
Freddie had a big night, going 3-4 with 2 RBI; his only out coming off of a smoked liner to Forsythe at second. Both Gonzalez and Schafer ended hitting streaks of six and five games, though Schafer drew a big walk in the ninth and scored the Braves' fourth run. A positive note to take from tonight's game is that Dan Uggla managed not to do anything terrible. He came in to pinch run for Chipper after Jones's ninth inning RBI single. Chipper was moving pretty gingerly all night. This was first noticeable in the bottom half of the first when he pulled up holding his groin after moving slowly from first to third on a Heap double. Let's hope this isn't a major issue.
Aside from the corner infield, the Braves were just 4 for 28 tonight. Latos threw just 62 strikes in 106 pitches but earned the win, going 6 and giving up 2 earned runs, 5 hits, and 4 walks. Minor's walk in the seventh resulted in the loss, as he had a line of 8 hits, 3 walks, and 3 ER in 6+ innings.
Tomorrow is the beginning of a new month...