A dominant start from Michael King evaporated in a disastrous six-run eighth inning as San Diego's relief core crumbled, thwarting a furious late-game rally in Atlanta.
The San Diego Padres were riding high after an 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.
In that game, all of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill homered, and it was a glimpse of what this team could be if all the stars perform well.
On Wednesday night, that wasn't the case. The Braves won, 7-6, and the game got out of hand in the bottom of the eighth before San Diego's late surge in the ninth.
The Braves scored the first run in the first inning via a Michael Harris groundout, and that was the only run until Merrill's solo home run in the seventh tied things up.
Then, everything unraveled in the bottom of the eighth. Michael King threw six innings, allowing just one run on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts in a solid outing.
Adrian Morejon then threw a scoreless inning, but Wandy Peralta and Randy Vasquez cratered as the Braves took advantage.
Jim Harvus and Brewer Hickson had RBI doubles, and then all of Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Dominic Smith had RBI singles as the Braves scored six runs on seven hits in the eighth.
Peralta, who is reportedly a trade candidate, might have hurt his value by allowing four runs on three hits in just 0.1 innings, and Vasquez allowed two runs on four hits in 0.2 innings.
Somehow, the Padres offense made things interesting in the ninth inning. Gavin Sheets had an RBI single, Fernando Tatis Jr. had a two-run triple and Luis Rengifo hit a two-run home run that cut the lead to one run.
However, Manny Machado and Ty France both struck out as the rally came to a crushing end.
Peralta officially took the loss as his record drops to 1-2 with a 3.02 ERA, but it wasn't a great outing by the bullpen despite a strong effort from King.
The Braves saw Martin Perez throw four shutout innings with one hit and four walks, but Victor Mederos allowed four runs on three hits in just 0.1 innings.
With each passing day, the Padres decision on whether to buy or sell becomes more clear, and now they are 1-1 in the series against the Braves.
On Thursday, San Diego will send out Griffin Caning (1-6, 6.67 ERA) against Chris Sale (10-6, 2.06 ERA) in what looks like a lopsided pitching matchup favoring Atlanta.
