Jake Cronenworth belted a tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the San Diego Padres edged the visiting Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Friday night.
Leading off the inning, Cronenworth picked on a hanging slider from Dylan Lee (0-1) and ripped it an estimated 381 feet for his first homer and sending San Diego to its second straight win to open the season. It was the fourth go-ahead or game-winning homer in Cronenworth’s career.
Jason Adam (1-0) worked around a two-out walk in the Atlanta half of the eighth to get the win and Robert Suarez induced the final three outs for his second save in as many games. The Padres got 4 2/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen, which combined to allow just one win while striking out six.
Neither starter was involved in the decision: Braves right-hander Reynaldo Lopez gave up three runs on nine hits in five innings with two walks and a strikeout, while Padres righty Dylan Cease lasted 4 1/3 innings, yielding four hits and three runs while walking two and fanning seven.
The bats were lively in the first half of the game, beginning with Fernando Tatis Jr. slugging Lopez’s first pitch in the first inning an estimated 410 feet over the left-center field wall for a quick 1-0 San Diego lead. The Padres pieced together three more hits for a run in the second, Martin Maldonado knocking it in with a two-out single to center.
Marcel Ozuna equalized for Atlanta in the third when he stroked a two-run single to right just past the diving Cronenworth. But San Diego regained the lead in its half of the inning on Xander Bogaerts’ two-out RBI double to left-center that scored Jackson Merrill.
Jarred Kelenic lifted the Braves into a 3-3 tie in the fifth when he led off the inning with his first homer, tagging a slider an estimated 342 feet into the right-field seats.
Merrill went 3-for-4 to pace the Padres’ 10-hit attack, while Cronenworth and Maldonado each bagged two hits.
