ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves set off the fireworks early in Friday night’s game at Truist Park.
The San Diego Padres played spoiler to end their own skid while pouring a little water on the celebration of Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return to the home team’s lineup.
Manny Machado hit a tiebreaking homer off Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias in the top of the ninth inning, and the Padres overcame Acuña’s home run in his season debut to beat the Braves 2-1 in the opener to a three-game series at Truist Park.
The Padres improved to 28-21 overall in 2025 and are 5-0 against the Braves this year after sweeping a four-game set in San Diego to start the season. However, they had lost six games in a row coming to Atlanta.
“You can feel sorry for yourself and you can pout,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said, “but the game doesn’t care, and ultimately the other side’s not going to ever care. We chose the only solution we know, and that’s just to figure it out, keep going.”