Padres capitalize on foolish Braves' mistakes to seal another late victory

There has been no shortage of offensive magic for the San Diego Padres through two games this regular season. After an Opening Day spark from Gavin Sheets' game-tying pinch-hit home run that led to a Friars win, San Diego kept the party going on Friday night in their second game against the Atlanta Braves.

The Padres improved to 2-0 following a 4-3 win over Atlanta, and although the Padres were clutch at the dish, the Friars can thank the Braves' arms for not executing on their pitches. All four runs scored by San Diego were off of pitches thrown directly over the plate, which can be problematic for Atlanta. The Padres aren't complaining, though.

Padres capitalize on foolish Braves' mistakes to seal another late victory

The highlight of the night came in the bottom of the eighth inning. San Diego's Jake Cronenworth muscled a game-winning solo home run in a tough lefty-on-lefty matchup. Dylan Lee was looking for a quick inning, but he hung a slider right over the plate for Cronenworth, who crushes those pitches to right field every time.

Tatis Jr. was hunting for an easy pitch to hit, too. Leading off the game, the Padres' superstar was given a gift from Reynaldo López. He hovered a 93 MPH fastball right in Tatis JR.'s wheelhouse, giving the Friars an early 1-0 lead.

San Diego's two other runs did not come from a home run, but they were still able to attack Atlanta's poor command. With two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the second inning, López missed his location on another fastball, but this time to a lesser hitter than Tatis Jr. Martín Maldonado, who is not considered an offensive catcher, was able to send one back up the middle for an RBI single to make it a 2-0 Padres lead.

Xander Bogaerts also got in on the action. With two outs in the bottom of the third inning, López's fastball was unsuccessful again. Bogaerts delivered a go-ahead RBI double, giving López another gut punch.

The Padres did a great job capitalizing on the Braves' mishaps, and with pitching talent at an all-time high, hitters need to be able jump on any pitches left directly over the plate. Luckily for San Diego, the Braves gifted them plenty on Friday.