The Atlanta Braves had not been swept at home by the San Diego Padres since 1989. Behind a strong effort from Tommy Hanson, a late home run by Martin Prado and solid bullpen work, it'll be at least one more year before San Diego accomplishes that sweep.
The Braves scored in the first inning of Wednesday's game, though they could have added on even more. Martin Prado ripped a double off the left-center field wall to get the rally started and Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Freddie Freeman and Alex Gonzalez all followed with singles to give Atlanta an early 2-0 lead. With the bases loaded and just one out, Dan Uggla popped out for the second out and Joe Mather went down swinging to end the threat.
Tommy Hanson had a relatively quick first inning, but the Padres battled back in the second. After hitting the game-winning home run on Monday night, Padres rookie Kyle Phillips hit a 2-run home run to tie the game up.
Hanson appeared to be frustrated with himself after the blast, tough he settled down nicely and proceeded to dominate the Padres lineup after giving up the lead. He allowed just two walks and no hits after the home run, all while striking out four in six innings of work.
Freddie Freeman regained the lead for the Braves in the third inning. Brian McCann doubled to lead off the inning and Freeman followed with a check-swing double down the left field line which just stayed fair. Martin Prado added on in the sixth inning with a monster home run to left field, which was his eighth of the season. He's now leads the team in homers.
Eric O'Flaherty made his return to the mound after battling a sore back and allowed a run in an inning of work. He gave way to Jonny Venters in the eighth inning, and Venters struck out all three batters he faced.
Craig Kimbrel came in the ninth and struck out the first two Padres batters he faced. Kyle Phillips singled on an 0-2 pitch to give San Diego hope, which brought up Logan Forsythe to the plate. Forsythe hit a deep line drive to center field, but Jordan Schafer made an incredible running catch for the final out of the game.
Be on the lookout for Schafer's incredible catch on the nightly highlight reels. He covered a ton of ground to get to the ball and held on after a violent crash with the Turner Field wall.
Braves win 4-3. They still lost the series, but hey, you don't win them all.
Atlanta will have an off-day tomorrow before heading up to New York to kick off a three game series with the New York Mets.
For more on the series, Padres fans should check out Gaslamp Ball and Braves fans should check out Talking Chop.