Padres Bats, Yu Darvish Take It To Atlanta in Sunday Night Baseball Loss

The Atlanta Braves couldn't get anything going in tonight's matchup with the San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish set a record for most wins by a Japanese-born starting pitcher with his 200th combined victory (NPB & MLB) after tonight's 9-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Truist Park. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves got scored on early and often against the San Diego Padres, dropping Sunday night’s game 9-1 in Truist Park. 

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

Bryce Elder doesn’t have it

Elder’s struggles started early in this one, resulting in the shortest outing of his career. 

The sinkerballer gave up four runs in the first inning, all (frustratingly) coming with two outs. He issued a walk, got tagged for a two-run homer, and then gave up three consecutive singles before finally getting out of the inning on the 41st pitch of the frame. 

Elder made it to the 4th but didn’t record an out, ultimately being charged with seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and three walks, recording three strikeouts and taking 93 pitches (54 strikes) to do it. He’s now 1-2 and his ERA sits at 6.46 after this one. 

Zooming out a bit, the righty’s allowed fifteen earned runs in 11.2 innings across three May starts, walking seven and giving up four homers. He next lines up to face the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road this Friday, although it’s an open question if he’ll still be on the roster at that point or if the team goes with another option from the Triple-A Gwinnett rotation. 

The struggles of Elder were magnified by the excellence of Padres starter Yu Darvish, who came into tonight’s game with an eighteen-inning scoreless streak and extended it with seven scoreless in this one. (That’s both the longest streak for a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB history and the longest streak for a pitcher 37 years of age or older in MLB history.) Darvish allowed only three baserunners on two hits and a walk while striking out nine and, at one point, sitting down thirteen consecutive batters.    

What’s with the struggles against the NL West? 

With the caveat that Atlanta played the 1st-place Los Angeles Dodgers and now the 2nd-place Padres, the Braves have notably struggled against the NL West recently. 

Tonight’s loss cements five consecutive losses against the West, going back to the Dodgers sweep in LA to open May. The Braves have been outscored 32-7 during that stretch. 

The Padres have now won ten of their last thirteen games in Atlanta, dating back to 2021, outscoring the Braves by thirty-nine runs during that stretch (81-42). 

What’s with the struggles on offense?

In the last thirty days, the Braves have scored an MLB-low 79 runs (24 games), with the next lowest total coming from the Toronto Blue Jays (86 runs in 25 games). 

Atlanta’s batting average across the last thirty days is fourth-lowest at .218 (tied with the Washington Nationals), while they’re tied for last in homers (19) with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, and Washington. Their slugging of .337 is third-lowest, while their 171 hits are a league-low.    

For returning most of the same lineup that tied the all-time single-season homer record and led the league in runs scored, the lack of production for the last month is absolutely wild. The worst thing is: there’s not an easy fix, either. Most of the inputs are good - Atlanta’s hard-hit rate (43.8%) and average exit velocity (90.3 mph) over the last seventeen games are both FIRST in baseball, but the results just...aren’t there. 

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta’s making up Saturday’s rainout with a doubleheader tomorrow to finish up this series. The Braves are sending Reynaldo López to the mound in game one and Chris Sale in game two, while the Padres will send the duo of Randy Vásquez and Dylan Cease in a yet-to-be-determined order. Game one is scheduled for 12:20 PM ET and game two is 6:20 PM ET.