Game 2: Padres cap sweep by holding Braves to takeaway

SAN DIEGO – Bring on the Dodgers.

The San Diego Padres swept the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series, attacking Braves starter Max Fried and hanging on for a 5-4 win in Game 2 on Wednesday at Petco Park. This sets up the third Padres-Dodgers NLDS matchup in five years. Game 1 Saturday at Dodger Stadium: Dylan Seage vs. Jack Flaherty.

Fried and Padres starter Joe Musgrove both left early Wednesday morning.

In what would be his last Braves start, Fried lasted just two innings. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, but exploded for five runs in the second – all with outs. Kyle Higashioka homered, and Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill each scored two runs. Machado now has 11 postseason RBIs, tying Tony Guain for the most in franchise history.

Musgrove left in the fourth inning with an elbow injury. The Padres bullpen quieted most of the Braves lineup, but leadoff man Michael Harris had three hits in the second, including a two-run homer off Jason Adams in the eighth to make it a one-run game.

Joe Musgrove's injury shakes up

Moments before his departure, Musgrove threw the two slowest pitches of his career in quick succession – a curveball at 75.2 mph and another at 74.2 mph.

The Padres later announced a right elbow strain, a worrisome development for a pitcher who has gone on the injured list twice this year with elbow issues.

The Padres seemingly possess the depth to withstand an extended absence for Musgrove. Michael King looks like a potential ace, Dylan Seaz and Yu Darvish will start the first two games of the division-series against the Dodgers, and Martin Perez is more than serviceable. Meanwhile, the bullpen is built to shorten games.

But without Musgrove, a proven playoff hero, the challenge of beating LA and advancing deep into October could become significantly more difficult. And if he returns this month, there is a risk of injury again.

Max Fried's postseason struggles hit a new low

In what could have been Max Fried's final start for the Braves, one of the best escapes of his career — from a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning — was followed by one of the worst innings of his career, at the most inopportune time. He gave up eight hits and five runs in two innings of the Game 2 loss, leaving early due to ineffectiveness and a first-inning drive injury to his left hip.

The Braves said they didn't have anyone on the mound in this must-win situation, though, and Fried earned a big-game reputation and permanent place in Braves lore with his six scoreless innings in the 2021 World Series-clinching game. 6 wins in Houston, many postseason struggles for the lefty.

Fried has a 5.10 ERA in 20 postseason games, including 12 starts, and is 1-4 with an 8.28 ERA and 41 hits allowed in 25 innings over his past six postseason starts. That includes winning the World Series.

Half of the Padres' eight hits on Friday didn't leave the infield, but some were costly, starting with Kyle Higashioka's two-out, game-tying solo homer in the second inning, which came on an error by Fried – a 1-and-2 fastball up the middle and waist-high. top left

It was the first of six consecutive hits by the Padres and the start of the last for the Braves.

Overwhelmed Padres with two outs

All seasons, the foot has pushed a certain mantra. It can be described this way: when you consistently put the ball in play, good things tend to happen.

That's exactly what happened in the second bottom. The Padres became the first team in postseason history to have six consecutive hits and combine for the cycle in the same inning. They did it all with two outs. It started with Kyle Higashioka's home run — his second in two days — but continued with a line-drive single, two straight infield singles, a double and a triple.

By the time the dust had settled, San Diego had scored five runs that would prove crucial, leading to the Braves' eventual surge. The Padres scored at least five runs in a playoff inning for the fourth time in franchise history. It was their first since they scored five runs in Game 2 of the 2022 National League Championship Series against the Phillies.

– Athletics Stephen J. Nesbitt contributed to this report.

(Photo by Kyle Higashioka: Dennis Poroy/Imagon Images)