Ask around the San Diego Padres clubhouse and you’ll hear everyone there, without fail, say they never feel like they’re out of a baseball game. Maybe the question shouldn’t be whether they’re ever out of a game. Perhaps we should be asking if other teams are ever in the game. The Fria rs pulled another win out of their hat when Jake Cronenworth launched a tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning to beat the Braves 4-3 on Friday night in front of 41,058 fans at Petco Park, their second straight win over one of the National League’s best ball clubs. Your San Diego Padres Padres Mar 26 Michelin-star chef joins lineup of new eats at Petco Park for the 2025 Padres season Padres Mar 25 Paint the town Brown & Gold: Here's how to tour San Diego's Padres murals Padres Mar 27 On Friar Podcast: Sheets Sparks Padres, Opening Day Win Comes in Familiar Fashion Dylan Cease got the start for San Diego and had mixed results. He allowed three runs while striking out seven but labored through some long at-bats so he was pulled after throwing 93 pitches in just 4.2 innings. Much like they did on Opening Day, the Padres bullpen locked up a very good Atlanta lineup. Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez combined to allow one hit with six punchouts the rest of the way. Offensively, manager Mike Shildt left Fernando Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot for the second straight day. He was at the top of the order on Opening Day against Chris Sale, one of the toughest lefties in the game, which was not unexpected. Shildt left him there against Reynaldo Lopez, a right-hander who had a miniscule 1.99 ERA a year ago. Like most of the moves Shildt makes, it worked. Lopez’s first pitch was a fastball and Tatis Jr. ambushed it, ripping a 110 mph home run into the left field seats to put the Padres up 1-0. In the second inning, new catcher Martin Maldonado drove in his first Padres run with an RBI single to plate Xander Bogaerts and make it 2-0. As will likely be the case whenever these two playoff contenders meet, the pendulum would swing back and forth. Atlanta tied it on a two-run single by Marcell Ozuna in the third inning, only to have Bogaerts double home Jackson Merrill (who had three hits) in the bottom half to make it a 3-2 Padres lead. In the fifth inning, Jarred Kelenic launched a solo shot off Cease to knot it 3-3, which is where it sat until the eighth. Braves left-handed reliever Dylan Lee had worked a scoreless seventh inning, so he was sent back out to deal with the lefty-swinging Cronenworth. It took Jake two pitches to make a memory. He blasted a slider deep over the right field fence and into the Crone Zone to give the Padres the lead again and set up another save for Suarez, who’s already locked up wins in the first two games of the year. The Padres can win the season-opening four-game series on Saturday night when Randy Vasquez takes the mound against Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach. ...read more read less