Paul Maholm continued to pitch very well with his new club on Wednesday night, leading the Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Padres. He is now 2-1 since coming to Atlanta, allowing just one run to score over his last 16 innings of work.
Not too bad for a guy who was completely off the radar as the trade deadline neared two weeks ago.
Dan Uggla delivered the big blast for Atlanta in the bottom of the third inning. He took a belt-high fastball and crushed it to the left-field seats, giving the Braves a 3-1 lead.
Michael Bourn added a run in the fourth inning with an RBI groundout that scored Paul Janish from third. He and Martin Prado were then driven home on a two-run double from Jason Heyward into the right-center-field gap.
Maholm scattered five hits and three walks during seven innings on the mound. The lone run came on a solo homer to Logan Forsythe in the third. Chad Durbin and Cory Gearrin each worked a scoreless inning of relief to preserve the lead.
The Braves will go for the series win on Thursday night with Kris Medlen on the mound. The Padres will counter with Jason Marquis, who made his MLB debut with Atlanta nearly a decade ago. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. at Turner Field.
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