The Padres beat Atlanta 7-2 Monday night, backed by solid pitching, timely hitting and a strong showing from the top of the order.
Yes, we can’t ignore that the Braves happen to be one of the three MLB teams with a worse record (16-41) than the Friars (24-35).
But San Diego did outplay the visitors as the two last-place teams opened up a three-game set at Petco Park.
Leadoff hitter Jon Jay, Wil Myers, Matt Kemp & cleanup hitter Yangervis Solarte combined to go 7-for-16 at the plate which was more than enough to help the Padres past one of the worst teams in baseball.
Solarte crushed a 3-run bomb off of Atlanta starter Williams Perez in the 3rd inning to give the Padres a 4-1 advantage.
Solarte upped his average to .329 and has hit all 4 of his homers in the past 11 games.
Kemp then added a RBI double in the 5th to push the lead to 5-1.
Local
Melvin Upton Junior also knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice later that inning.
In his last 8 games, Myers is hitting a blistering .468 with 15 hits in his last 32 at-bats.
He added a pair of infield singles Monday night and scored twice to help the cause.
Catcher Derek Norris also provided an insurance run in the 8th on a RBI double to right centerfield.
Starting pitcher Christian Friedrich quietly improved to 3-1 with the victory.
The former first-round pick of the Rockies went 6.2 innings and struck out seven while allowing just six hits and two earned runs.
San Diego will try to make it two wins in a row Tuesday when Colin Rea (3-2, 4.85 ERA) heads to the hill.
Atlanta counters with starter Aaron Blair (0-4, 7.44 ERA).
