At least Acuña’s back?
Well, the good news for the Atlanta Braves is that they’re done seeing the San Diego Padres — at least not unless they potentially see each other in the Postseason. Either way, the Braves are likely happy to be done with the Padres for this season because it certainly didn’t go well in San Diego and it barely went better here in Cobb County.
With that being said, while it’s totally understandable to be frustrated with the Padres essentially turning this season series into a mockery with their dominance, this series did provide some of the best news that the Braves have had all season. Folks, they’ve got Ronald Acuña Jr. back and I’m going to drop some heavy-hitting analysis on y’all with this upcoming take: It is better for the Braves to have Acuña around than not. I know, this is just one of the many scorching hot takes that y’all come to this website for.
In all seriousness, that was the clear positive to take away from this series. Ronald Acuña Jr. is back, and they’ll figure out the rest later.
Friday, May 23
Padres 2, Braves 1
We got the perfect start to this game, as Chris Sale made quick work of the Padres in the first inning in order to set the stage for Acuña’s return at-bat. Sure enough, Nick Pivetta served up a 93-mph fastball right down the middle and Acuña hit it deep into the seats in order to send Truist Park into a frenzy.
That was the high point on the night for the Braves. Chris Sale gave up a home run to Gavin Sheets in the very next inning and while that ended up being the only run he’d give up over seven innings, the Braves offense was unable to muster up much of anything else. It came down to the ninth inning, which is when Raisel Iglesias gave up a homer to Manny Machado that made it 2-1. The Braves looked like they were about to pull off another late-game rally until Eli White’s strange baserunning decision snuffed out what seemed like a promising comeback attempt.
Saturday, May 24
Braves 7, Padres 1
Now this was more like it. For the second game in a row, a Braves pitcher went deep into the game while only giving up a minimum of runs. Grant Holmes was fantastic on the day, as he went seven innings while striking out six and only giving up one run with just one walk. He’s starting to get into a bit of a groove when it comes to his starts, as that’s now three straight starts where he’s been very effective for the Braves.
Speaking of the Braves, this time we didn’t have to worry about Holmes’ start going in vain as Atlanta’s bats came alive in this one. Matt Olson went deep early on in this one and the game was 3-1 Braves until the sixth inning, which is when Ronald Acuña Jr. decided that hitting home runs during this series was so nice that he needed to do it twice. His sixth-inning home run plus a strong seventh inning from the rest of the lineup was enough to deliver the knockout shot for the Braves as they cruised to their first (and as it turned out, only) win over the Padres in 2025.
Sunday, May 25
Padres 5, Braves 3
The Braves were actually in control during the first half of this, as they were up 3-1 following five innings. Ozzie Albies continued what’s been a decent resurgence at the plate as of late — he’s now on an 11-game hitting streak and has been hitting .366/.435/.463 with a wOBA of .400 and a wRC+ of 155 during that span, so clearly he’s been on the right path lately.
However, from the sixth inning onwards this game belonged to the Padres. San Diego homered in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and I’d imagine that both the Braves and their fans are probably tired of seeing both Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets since those two homered yet again in this series. That late surge of power went unmatched by the Braves and as such, Atlanta was doomed to another series loss at the hands of the Padres.
So while it’s definitely nice to have Ronald Acuña Jr. back in the fold, it definitely would’ve been nice if the Braves were able to make Acuña’s return with a victory or two. Instead, the Padres continued to exert dominance over Atlanta and this also served as a sad ending to what’s been a rough go of it for the Braves against the two NL Southern California teams. Atlanta will finish the season 2-11 against the Padres and the Dodgers. Assuming the Braves get their stuff together and make the Postseason, that might be an issue that they’ve had so much trouble dealing with a pair of teams that will likely be around once we get to that stage of the season.
With that being said, it’s a long road between now and October and even October is good for a surprise or ten so maybe this might be a case of trying to cross a bridge before you even get to it. The Braves still have to re-cross the bridge to the sunny side of .500, as they’re now a couple of games under that threshold right as they get set for a trip to Philadelphia to take on the defending NL East champions. The Braves did take the series against Philadelphia in their last meeting but they’ll certainly need to up their game if they want to avoid a fate similar to the one they suffered against the Padres over this past weekend.