Solarte carries Padres past Braves
SAN DIEGO -- Yangervis Solarte broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer in the third inning and left-handed starter Christian Friedrich allowed two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings Monday night as the Padres defeated the Braves 7-2 at Petco Park in the opener of a three-game series between the last-place teams in the National League's East and West divisions.
Wil Myers and Matt Kemp each had two hits and scored in front of Solarte's 376-foot drive. Kemp drove in two runs with a game-tying, first-inning sacrifice fly and a fifth-inning double. Myers and Kemp each scored two runs.
Catcher Derek Norris also had two hits, including an RBI double, for the Padres.
Friedrich allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings to pick up his third straight win. He has a 2.60 earned-run average in five starts for the Padres since being promoted from Triple-A El Paso on May 13.
The loss was the fifth straight and sixth in seven games for the 16-41 Braves. The win was the Padres' fourth in six games on their current homestand.
Braves right-handed starter Williams Perez (2-2) suffered the loss. The right-hander allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings before leaving the game with triceps soreness.
Perez had retired the first two Padres he faced in the third when Myers hit an infield single to third. With Myers running, Kemp followed with an opposite-field single through the right side before Solarte's homer.
The Padres then extended their lead to 6-1 in the seventh.
Myers singled with one out and scored on a double by Kemp. Perez departed alongside the trainer. Solarte greeted former Padres right-hander Casey Kelly with a line drive back to the mound that went off Kelly's glove for a single. Myers took third on the play and scored on a ground to short.
The Braves narrowed the deficit to 6-2 in the seventh and chased Friedrich.
Second baseman Kelly Johnson singled with one out, moved to third on a two-out single by Ender Inciarte and scored when Chase d'Arnaud greeted right-handed reliever Carlos Villanueva with a single. But Villanueva struck out Freddie Freeman on a full-count to end the inning.
Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Friedrich walked Braves lead-off hitter Inciarte. d'Arnaud singled Inciarte to third and he scored on Jeff Francoeur's grounder to short.
The Padres tied the game in their half of the first, scoring in the opening inning for the fifth time in six games in June. Jon Jay opened the Padres' first with a double, moved to third on a ground out to second by Myers and scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by Kemp.
After scoring only 14 first-inning runs over the season's first 53 games in April and May, the Padres have already scored 15 first-inning runs in June.
NOTES: The Braves recalled RHP Casey Kelly from Triple-A Gwinnett Monday to serve as the long man in the bullpen and optioned RHP John Gant to Gwinnett. Kelly was 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA in three games (one start) for the Braves earlier this season. Gant had a 6.17 ERA in seven relief outings with Atlanta. ... Padres C Austin Hedges, who had surgery to remove the fractured tip of the hamate bone on his left hand on April 27, is catching games in extended spring training and is expected to join Triple-A El Paso for a rehab assignment next week. ... San Diego RHP Jon Edwards, on the disabled list since the start of spring training with a strained flexor tendon, shut it down over the weekend while preparing for his second rehab outing for Class A Lake Elsinore. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam.