Padres on deck: Returning home to face NL East-leading Braves

Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres

• Game 1: 7:10 p.m. Monday (ESPN)
• Game 2: 6:40 p.m. Tuesday (Padres.TV)
• Game 3: 5:40 p.m. Wednesday (Padres.TV)

In the standings

Atlanta Braves (48-28, 1st in NL East)

The Braves have baseball's best record, but they have lost seven of their last 10 games . They still have a 6 1/2-game lead in the division on the Phillies and are a 24-14 team on the road. The Braves rank fourth in run differential (plus-97), sixth in OPS (.738), sixth in rotation ERA (3.76) and first in bullpen ERA (2.87).

San Diego Padres (39-37, 2nd in NL West)

The Padres lost back-to-back series in St. Louis and Texas to settle for a 4-5 road trip that's knocked them a half-game out of the NL's last wild-card spot. The Padres are a 19-19 team so far at home. They won six of seven last year against Atlanta.

Trending

Atlanta: INF Mauricio Dubon and 1B Matt Olson are tied for the team lead in June with four homers each, while Dubon leads the team with 13 RBIs. 2B Ozzie Albies leads the team with a .910 OPS this month, followed by Olson (.901), Dubon (.831) and OF Michael Harris (.798). 3B Austin Riley has a .604 OPS in June and reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin has a .389 OPS). LHP Dylan Lee (1.08 ERA) leads the team with 35 appearances on the year, followed by 31 each from RHPs Robert Suarez (0.56) and Tyler Kinley (3.18 ERA).

San Diego: Padres have three homers each in June-3B Manny Machado (.637 OPS in June), OF Jackson Merrill (.687), 1B Gavin Sheets (.652) and C Freddy Fermin (.894). Machado leads the team with 11 RBIs this month, while OF Fernando Tatis Jr. has a team-best .848 OPS in June. Meantime, SS Xander Bogaerts has a .519 OPS to start this month. In the bullpen, RHP Jason Adam has appeared in a team-high 10 games this month but has a 6.48 ERA while giving up four homers in 8⅓ innings. LHP Wandy Peralta hasn't allowed a run in 11⅓ innings in June.

Pitching matchups

Monday

Braves RHP Grant Holmes (4-3, 4.33 ERA) | The third-year starter has just one quality start in his last five trips to the mound (5.48 ERA) and has completed five innings just twice in that stretch. Holmes has a 5.27 FIP, has allowed 13 homers in 68 ⅔ innings and is allowing opponents a .760 OPS. Holmes faced the Padres for the first time in 2025, allowing a run over eight innings across two appearances (one start). He logged eight strikeouts and a walk across those two games.

Padres RHP Michael King (4-6, 3.60 ERA) | He's been slumping since beating the Dodgers with seven shutout innings on May 18, allowing six homers and 6.41 ERA over his last five starts. The Padres are 1-4 in those games, while King has a 14-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 26 ⅔ innings. King has faced the Braves twice in the regular season (6 ⅓ IP, 3 ER) and beat them in Game 1 of the 2024 NL Wild Card Series at Petco Park (7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 12 Ks).

Tuesday

Braves RHP JR Ritchie (1-2, 4.54 ERA) | The 22-year-old rookie has a 30-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 35 ⅔ innings in the majors, is sporting a 5.99 FIP and allowing opposing hitters a .741 OPS. He hasn't gone more than 5 ⅓ innings in any of his last six appearances. A six-pitch mix includes a low-80s curve (25.5%) and a four-seamer sitting 94.3 mph (19.4%).

Padres TBA | RHP Griffin Canning (1-5, 6.64 ERA) pitched behind an opener in this spot in St. Louis, coming out of the bullpen to throw 4 ⅓ innings of one-run ball to earn his first win as a Padre. He still walked (3) more than he has struck out (2) and has a 41-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 42 innings. Canning has a 9.00 ERA in two career starts (7 IP) against the Braves.

Wednesday

Braves LHP Martín Pérez (6-3, 2.78 ERA) | The one-time Padre is thriving in Atlanta after an injury-shortened 2025 with the White Sox (3.54 ERA, 56 IP). He has a 3.38 ERA over his last six starts and a 2.91 ERA as a starter this year (58 ⅔ IP) vs. a 1.93 ERA as a reliever (9 ⅓ IP). Pérez has a 3.86 ERA in 14 career innings against the Padres. He last faced them in 2023 (5⅔ IP, 4 ER)

Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (6-5, 4.17 ERA) | He has a 6.91 ERA over his last six starts, walking (12) nearly as many as he's struck out (14) and has allowed seven homers over his last 27⅓ innings. Vásquez has lost three of his four starts against the Braves (3.10 ERA, 20 ⅓ IP). He shut them out over six shutout innings in a no-decision last year.

2026 qualifying leaders

• OPS: Braves-1B Matt Olson (.882), C Drake Baldwin (.871), OF Michael Harris (.854); Padres-1B Gavin Sheets (.766), OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (.707), SS Xander Bogaerts (.654).
• HRs: Braves-Olson (20), Baldwin (14), Harris (14); Padres-3B Manny Machado (13), Sheets (12), three tied with 8.
• RBIs: Braves-Olson (51), SS Mauricio Dubon (42), Harris (41), 2B Ozzie Albies (41); Padres-Machado (41), Sheets (33), OF Jackson Merrill (31).
• Steals: Braves-OF Ronald Acuña Jr. (15), INF Jorge Mateo (7), Harris (4), 3B Austin Riley (4); Padres-Tatis (18), Merrill (15), Bogarts (9).
• Saves: Braves-RHP Raisel Iglesias (15-for-15, 1.48 ERA), RHP Robert Suarez (4-for-5, 0.56 ERA); Padres-RHP Mason Miller (20-for-20, 0.87 ERA).
• Holds: Braves-LHP Dylan Lee (15, 1.08 ERA), Suarez (12), RHP Tyler Kinley (9), 3.18 ERA; Padres-RHP Jason Adam (16, 2.54 ERA), LHP Adrián Morejón (12, 3.69 ERA), RHP Jeremiah Estrada (6, 3.48 ERA).

Training room

Atlanta: OF Ronald Acuña Jr. won't return until at least the end of the month as he recovers from a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. The lineup is also missing C Sean Murphy (finger) and INF Kyle Farmer (forearm), with the pitching staff is without RHPs Spencer Strider (elbow), Joe Jimenez (knee), AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John) and Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow) and LHPs Danny Young (Tommy John) and Joey Wentz (ACL).

San Diego: C Freddy Fermin has been on the concussion list for a week. C Luis Campusano (toe), 2B Jake Cronenworth (concussion), RHP Jeremiah Estrada (knee) were rehabbing in Arizona while the team was on the road. RHPs Germán Márquez (forearm nerve) and Matt Waldron (brachialis) are making rehab starts for Triple-A El Paso. RHPs Joe Musgrove (Tommy John) and Nick Pivetta (flexor strain) are on the 60-day injured list but have begun throwing programs. OF Ramón Laureano (hip) is likely done for the year following surgery.

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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 10:38 AM.