San Diego Padres fall to the Atlanta Braves in extra-inning thriller

The San Diego Padres lost their second straight game to the Atlanta Braves, this time in an extra-inning thriller that cost them the series.

In a see-saw game that had five total lead changes, the San Diego Padres failed to rally and fell in dramatic fashion to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

The Friars stumbled out of the gate for the second night in a row, allowing a multi-run homer to Josh Donaldson in the first inning once again.

This time though, the Padres actually made the game close.

Manny Machado immediately responded to put the Friars on the board with his second solo homer in as many games. Francisco Mejía then led off the fifth with a solo shot of his own to tie the game.

Julio Teherán proceeded to walk Manuel Margot, then a passed ball to catcher Tyler Flowers advanced Margot to second; but Flowers committed a throwing error and Margot scampered to third. Josh Naylor followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Padres the lead.

While the Braves tied it up, the Padres quickly hit back when Margot advanced to third on another wild pitch. Atlanta made a mistake by choosing to walk Fernando Tatis Jr. with two outs; he tried to steal second base but got caught in a pickle long enough for Margot to steal home. Tatis Jr. was safe at second and it was marked as a go-ahead double-steal.

Might it have been a designed play? Decide for yourself, reader:

In the end though, it wasn’t enough.

On the mound, Lucchesi looked uncomfortable through his first two innings. He surrendered the two-run homer along with two hits, but he eventually settled down. Lucchesi cruised through the next three innings to end the night with three hits, four strikeouts and two walks.

However, the bullpen was responsible for another loss. While Trey Wingenter did his job with a fourth straight hitless and scoreless appearance, Craig Stammen allowed a tying-home run to Ronald Acuña Jr. in the seventh.

Andy Green gave Kirby Yates the shot at his first ever six-out save, but instead he allowed an inherited runner to score. Yates came back to toss a dramatically scoreless ninth but was charged with a blown save, ending the evening with four strikeouts in 33 pitches.

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Luis Perdomo then walked two batters and surrendered a three-run 10th inning. He actually had the chance to redeem himself in the bottom of the 10th, approaching the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Unfortunately, he struck out looking to cement the loss.

On the bright side, there were definitely some positives from the game; Margot wreaked havoc on the bases, going 0-for-1 on the night but finishing with three consecutive walks. He was responsible for two of the Padres’ five runs.

Machado also had a two-homer game to jump to 23 shots on the year. He ended the game 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Finally, the Padres once again grit their teeth and went down fighting. They staged another last-minute rally, and Mejía appeared to hit a walk-off home run that was nicely snagged by Nick Markakis. The three-run 10th inning ended up being enough for the Braves to take the series.

San Diego appears to be in their own way as they chase a wild card spot, now sitting at 45-47 on the year. The Padres will seek to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon when Cal Quantrill faces off against Mike Soroka.

For complete coverage of the San Diego Padres’ 2019 season, be sure to visit Friars on Base all season long.