San Diego Padres vs Atlanta Braves Box Score on Jul 21, 2021

Chris Paddack pitched five shutout innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. belted his 29th home run to lift the visiting San Diego Padres to a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Paddack (6-6) allowed three hits and struck out one to become the first San Diego starter to throw five scoreless innings since June 22.

The right-hander has now thrown five-plus innings in eight of his last 11 starts and allowed three or fewer runs in 13 of his 18 starts. He improved to 2-0 in his career against the Braves.

Closer Mark Melancon struck out two of three batters faced in a scoreless seventh inning to earn his league-leading 28th save. Melancon pitched for the Braves in 2020 but left as a free agent.

Tatis, who was 2-for-3, hit a long two-run homer into the left-field bleachers off reliever Shane Greene in the fifth inning. Over his last five games, Tatis has eight hits, seven runs scored, six RBIs, four walks and two stolen bases.

The Padres got their first run in the fourth inning off Atlanta starter Kyle Muller. Ha-Seong Kim's sacrifice fly to center field scored Jurickson Profar, who doubled with one out and took third on Muller's wild pitch.

Muller (1-3) pitched four innings and allowed one run on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts in his fifth major-league start. Muller worked out of a jam in the third when he walked two batters with one out, but retired Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado on hard-hit fly balls.

The Braves scored both of their runs in the sixth inning off Drew Pomeranz. He gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits in his lone inning of work. Atlanta's Freddie Freeman scored on Victor Caratini's passed ball, and Austin Riley's sacrifice fly drove in Ozzie Albies.

--Field Level Media