ATLANTA _ Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
Cal Quantrill may have pitched as well Wednesday night as he has all season. But he was pitching in the major leagues for the first time and doing it against one of the best-hitting teams.
The 24-year-old right-hander went longer than any of the three Padres starting pitchers who debuted before him this season, but he allowed one more run than any of the others and took the decision in a 5-1 loss to the Braves.
Manny Machado's fourth-inning home run was the totality of the Padres' offense, which had just four hits in seven innings off Braves starter Max Fried (4-1).
After Luis Perdomo gave up three runs in the seventh inning, the last two on a homer by Dansby Swanson, the Padres loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning.
Franmil Reyes grounded softly back to pitcher Josh Tomlin, who had just entered the game and threw home for the first out. Machado struck out swinging, and Hunter Renfroe struck out looking.
Most of the big hits off Quantrill, who allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, came on pitches that were not bad. A couple were quality.
But Quantrill learned what Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer and Jacob Nix and Chris Paddack and Nick Margevicius and others have right away _ that quality is often not enough against the best hitters in the world.
The Braves went up 1-0 in the first inning, and Quantrill might not have thrown a truly regrettable pitch.
Lead-off Ozzie Albies greeted him by pulling a 1-0 fastball on the lower inside corner for a triple down the right-field line. Albies scored on Swanson's sacrifice fly.
After Freddie Freeman reached down to smack a double to center field on a 96-mph fastball below his knees, Quantrill got out of the inning by getting Nick Markakis on a fly ball and Johan Comargo on a grounder.
Quantrill got through the second and third innings in order and pitched his way out of a jam in the fourth, when a single and a walk put runners at first and second with none out before a fielder's choice grounder by Camargo and a double play grounder by Brian McCann.
With one out in the fifth, Edgar Inciarte doubled on a change-up that was far too up in the zone. Quantrill struck out Fried before Albies again reminded Quantrill he wasn't in Triple-A anymore by reaching out to loft a double to center field on a curveball that was two inches off the plate. That scored Inciarte to make it 2-1.
Quantrill's maiden, which came so the Padres could provide an extra day of rest for their starters, gave the Padres twice as many starting pitcher debuts this season than any other team. The Padres are 2-2 in those debuts.
Margevicius, Paddack and Pedro Avila all went at least five innings and allowed one run apiece in their first two starts. Avila, who was called up from Double-A to make a spot start, actually went the longest, lasting 5 1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks on April 11.
Margevicius and Paddack, who started here Monday and Tuesday, have combined for 2.54 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over 63 2/3 innings in their six starts apiece.
Like Avila, Quantrill is likely not going to be a permanent part of the 25-man roster right away. But the organization's first pick of the 2016 draft showed he can navigate a major league lineup.
One of the best, in fact.
The Braves entered the game with the National League's second-best OPS (.808) and second-best batting average (.266). They had three players among the top 17 in the NL in average and four among the top 14 in on-base percentage.
Quantrill's father, Paul, played in the majors from 1992 to 2005. He pitched in 22 games for the Padres in '05. That made the Quantrills the first father-son duo to pitch under Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley and the second father-son duo in Padres history after Tony Gwynn and Tony Gwynn Jr.
