Padres' Friedrich freezes Braves

[June 07, 2016]  SAN DIEGO -- Christian Friedrich remembers last March 3.

That was the day the San Diego Padres signed the 28-year-old, 6-foot-4 left-hander to a minor league contract after he was cut by the Colorado Rockies.

"It was a blessing I came over here," Friedrich said Monday night after he was earned his third win in four decisions for San Diego. He helped the Padres defeat the Atlanta Braves 7-2 at Petco Park in the opener of a three-game series between the last-place teams in the National League East and West.

"They put me back together," Friedrich said of the Padres..

Over the previous two seasons with the Rockies, Friedrich was 0-8 with a 5.44 ERA in 84 games (three starts). After five starts with the Padres, he has a 2.57 ERA in 28 innings.

On Monday night, he allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while recording a season-high seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

"He's doing a great job," Padres manager Andy Green said. "He competes. He works a bit backwards. Once he gets on top and starts spinning that slider and changes eye level with those balls up, he's very effective."

Friedrich, who was promoted from Triple-A El Paso to the Padres on May 13, spotted the Braves a 1-0 lead in the first inning. He said he settled into a tempo after the Padres tied the game in the bottom of the first.

The game was decided two innings later when Yangervis Solarte broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer off Braves right-hander Williams Perez, who left the game in the fifth inning with what was described as soreness in his right triceps.

"He just felt it," interim Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Perez's injury. "The way he was describing it, it sounded more like a cramp to me. It's one of those things we'll know more about tomorrow after things calm down a bit."

Speaking about Solarte's decisive three-run homer, Snitker said: "I just think that wasn't a real good pitch. It didn't break well, didn't have a lot of teeth in it. It just kind of stayed right there for him to hit."

Perez (2-2) allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Wil Myers and Matt Kemp, who each had two hits in the game, scored in front of Solarte's 376-foot drive. Kemp drove in runs with a game-tying, first-inning sacrifice fly and a fifth-inning double. Myers and Kemp each scored two runs.

Solarte and Derek Norris also had two hits for San Diego. Norris' eighth-inning double drove in the Padres' final run.

Chase d'Arnaud finished with three hits for the Braves, while Ender Inciarte went 2-for-4.

The loss was the fifth straight and sixth in seven games for the

Braves (16-41). The Padres (24-35) posted their fourth win in six games on their current homestand.

Solarte's fourth homer of the season -- and fourth in the last 11 games -- capped a two-out rally in the third. Perez retired the first two Padres he faced in the inning when Myers topped the ball to third and reached first on a single before the pitcher could get off a throw. With Myers running, Kemp followed with an opposite-field single through the right side.

Solarte then golfed a 0-1 slider into the right field seats.

Padres second baseman Yangervis Solarte (R) celebrates a 7-2 win over the Atlanta Braves with teammates at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The Padres extended their lead to 6-1 in the fifth.

Myers singled with one out and scored on a double by Kemp just before Perez departed the game. 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 groundout to short.

Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Friedrich walked the leadoff hitter, Inciarte. D'Arnaud's single sent Inciarte to third, and the center fielder scored on a short grounder to shortstop off the bat of Jeff Francoeur.

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 groundout to second by Myers and scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by Kemp.

"Answering that first-inning run was big for us," Green said.

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.

The Braves narrowed the deficit to 6-2 in the seventh and chased Friedrich.

Kelly Johnson singled with one out, moved to third on a two-out single by Inciarte and scored when d'Arnaud greeted right-handed reliever Carlos Villanueva with a single. Villanueva struck out Freddie Freeman on a full count to end the inning.

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.

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