ATLANTA _ Several Braves players said after a workout and an exhibition game last month at SunTrust Park that the ball carried better there than it did at Turner Field, and early results would indicate they knew what they were talking about.
Brandon Phillips and Adonis Garcia hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning to send the Braves and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to a 4-2 win Saturday night against the San Diego Padres, giving the Braves a three-game winning streak and 2-0 record at their new home ballpark.
Leadoff man Ender Inciarte hit a two-run homer for the Braves in their 5-2 win Friday that marked the official opening of the park, and there were four homers hit in Game 2 including consecutive homers by Hunter Renfroe and Austin Hedges in the second inning to give the Padres a 2-0 lead.
Dickey (1-1) settled in after those homers and came through with a strong performance to earn his first win for the Braves in his second start, allowing seven hits and two runs with one walk and six strikeouts in six-plus innings. He left after giving up consecutive infield hits to start the seventh inning, then Jose Ramirez retired the next three batters to begin a third consecutive strong bullpen performance during Atlanta's three-game winning streak.
After improving to 4-6, the Braves are assured of at least a split of the opening four-game series at SunTrust Park, where they had their second consecutive sellout crowd of 41,149 on Saturday. They can clinch the series with a win Sunday afternoon when Bartolo Colon makes his first home start for the Braves.
The Braves tied the score with two runs in the third inning on four singles including RBI hits from Dansby Swanson and Nick Markakis, and moved ahead in the sixth on back-to-back jacks from Phillips and Garcia to start the inning against left-hander Clayton Richard. It was the first home run for each this season.
Dickey had a rough second inning, allowing two homers, walking the No. 8 hitter and hitting Richard with a pitch. But then he flipped a figurative switch, retiring the next eight batters before a fifth-inning single from Richard, a former two-sport athlete and backup quarterback at the University of Michigan in 2004.
Wil Myers added a two-out double in the fifth to give the Padres two runners in scoring position before Dickey got an inning-ending ground out from Yangervis Solarte. Hedges also had a two-out double in the sixth before Erick Aybar grounded out to end the inning.
Phillips put the Braves ahead with his no-doubt-about it home run to start the sixth, the veteran second baseman going down to get a 2-0 fastball at his shins and displaying his still-considerable bat speed as he drove the ball about 10 rows into the left-center field bleachers. Five pitches later, Garcia followed with a homer that cleared the brick-topped 16-foot wall in right-center.
The Braves hit back-to-back homers just once in 2016, when Garcia and Tyler Flowers did it against the Cubs' Jason Hammel on June 10 at Turner Field.
