Major League Baseball
Atlanta 4, San Diego 3
When: 4:10 PM ET, Sunday, September 26, 2021
Where: Petco Park, San Diego, California
Temperature: 70°
Umpires: Home - Greg Gibson, 1B - Ryan Wills, 2B - Rob Drake, 3B - Will Little
Attendance: 41294

Atlanta closer Will Smith walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning, but registered three strikeouts in the frame to preserve the Braves' 4-3 win over the host San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Smith earned his 35th save the hard way, preserving the win for A.J. Minter (3-6). He fanned pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. with two runners on before giving up his third walk of the inning to Tommy Pham. But Smith then struck out Trent Grisham and Ha-Seong Kim to finish the game.

A night earlier, Smith pitched a 1-2-3 inning to earn a save.

Braves pinch-hitter Orlando Arcia doubled home Joc Pederson for the go-ahead run in the sixth against reliever Pierce Johnson (3-4). The Atlanta bullpen followed with four shutout innings.

Richard Rodriguez (two-thirds of an inning), Tyler Matzek (one inning) and Luke Jackson (1 1/3 innings) kept the Padres' offense quiet until the ninth.

With its win and the Philadelphia loss earlier Sunday, Atlanta (83-72) extended its lead over the Phillies to 2 1/2 games and reduced its magic number to five. The Phillies come to Atlanta for a three-game series that starts on Tuesday. It was the final road game for the Braves, who went 4-2 against the Padres and finished 46-35 away from home.

San Diego (78-78) played its final home game and finished the season 45-36 at Petco Park.

The Braves went with a bullpen game and got 1 1/3 innings out of starter Jesse Chavez, the first of eight pitchers used.

San Diego starter Joe Musgrove did not receive a decision. He worked five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, three walks and nine strikeouts.

The Braves took a 3-0 lead after four innings. Pederson hit his 17th home run, a solo shot, in the second inning. Travis d'Arnaud doubled home Austin Riley, then scored on Ehire Adrianza's single in the fourth.

San Diego tied the score with a three-run rally in the fifth. Jake Cronenworth tripled into the right-field corner to drive in two, then scored on Manny Machado's single to center. Cronenworth went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Atlanta   San Diego
Jesse Chavez Player Joe Musgrove
No Decision W/L No Decision
1.1 IP 5.0
0 Strikeouts 9
1 Hits 7
0.00 ERA 5.40
Hitting
Atlanta   San Diego
Joc Pederson Player Jake Cronenworth
2 Hits 3
1 RBI 2
1 HR 0
5 TB 7
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Atlanta 10 1 17 .278 22 10 4 5 0 0
San Diego 10 0 14 .278 26 7 3 7 1 1