ATLANTA BRAVES OPEN FIRST ROAD TRIP OF THE YEAR WITH A LOSS TO SAN DIEGO PADRES, ROME BRAVES UPDATE

The Atlanta Braves opened a seven-game road trip in California with a loss in San Diego to the Padres by a final score of 12-1 on Thursday night in the first outing of a four-game set at Petco Park.

Charlie Morton was charged with the loss after surrendering five earned runs and nine hits, walking three, and striking out five over five innings. He did, however, reach a milestone with his 1,500th career strikeout.

The Braves’ lone run of the night was courtesy of a solo home run from Ozzie Albies in the top of the ninth; it was his second homer of the season.

Manny Machado tied his career high with five hits for the Padres to include a two-run homer off of Will Smith in the bottom of the seventh. Joe Musgrove was the winning pitcher.

The Braves are now 3-5 on the 2022 regular season, while the Padres are 5-3. Those teams will meet again tonight out in San Diego, CA. The first pitch is set for 9:40 pm. Listen on WLAQ 1410 AM or 96.9 FM; air time is 8:25 pm from the Braves Radio Network.

Atlanta’s series in San Diego will continue through this weekend and will be followed by a three-game set in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Monday night through Wednesday.

And in a minor league update, the Rome Braves were defeated by the Hudson Valley Renegades 8-2 on Thursday night in game three of a six-game series at AdventHealth Stadium. Both of Rome’s runs were scored on a two-run homer from Landon Stephens in the bottom of the third inning; that marked his third homer for this season. Hudson Valley now leads the series 2-1. Game four is scheduled for tonight at 7 pm.