ATLANTA — The Padres got their No.1 starter back for most of six innings.
They misplaced their offense against a pitcher making his season debut after a lengthy rehab from a shoulder injury and the major leagues’ worst bullpen.
Baseball is funny that way.
That was proved true again Tuesday night at Truist Park, as the Braves beat the Padres 2-1 in the delayed series opener.
The teams will meet again for two seven-inning games, weather permitting, beginning at 9:20 a.m. PT Wednesday.
Presumably, in two games the Padres will get more than the five hits they managed against Touki Toussaint, who tied a career high by going 6 2/3 innings, and three relievers.
Two-thirds of the hits Toussaint allowed were by the final two batters he faced, Wil Myers and Victor Caratini. With a runner in scoring position for the third time in the game, however, the inning ended when reliever Tyler Matzek got pinch-hitter Jurickson Profar on a fly ball to shallow center field.
The top four hitters in the Padres’ order managed an infield single, by Fernando Tatis Jr., against Chris Martin in the eighth. Will Smith survived Myers’ two-out double by getting Caratini on a groundout.
So the offense that entered the game with the highest OPS (.885) in the majors over its previous 27 games was waylaid on the night the Padres’ biggest concern was at least temporarily alleviated.
Yu Darvish wasn’t at his best, but he was close to being back to the guy who goes at least six innings, mostly confounding opponents with his various pitches. That was better than he or any other Padres starting pitcher had been in a couple weeks’ worth of games.
The right-hander had a belt-high fastball to Freddie Freeman sent the other way over the left-field wall and into the visitors’ bullpen with one out in the sixth, got an out on a groundball and then lost control and left the game.
After hitting Austin Riley and walking Stephen Vogt on five pitches, Darvish was replaced by Tim Hill, who struck out Abraham Almonte.
Padres starting pitchers had combined for a 5.88 ERA over the previous 27 games. That concern was at least temporarily alleviated by Darvish’s return from a 10-day stay on the injured list, resting a balky hip and recovering from a nasty cold. He allowed two runs on four hits and came within an out of being the first Padres starter to last six innings since July 2.
Darvish, who allowed six runs in three innings in his last start, July 8 against the Washington Nationals, threw 95 pitches. Of those, 24 were in the sixth inning when he appeared to be struggling with his grip on the ball and also mud caking on the bottom of his spikes for a second straight inning.
Rain, which had postponed Monday’s game, began in the fourth inning Tuesday and continued into the sixth.
Aside from the finish, though, Darvish looked like the pitcher the Padres could count on again.
He allowed a run in the second inning when Almonte, the Braves’ No.7 hitter, yanked a split-finger fastball down the right-field line for a double and scored when the next batter, Guillermo Heredia, singled to left field.
Darvish retired the next nine batters before walking Toussaint with two outs in the fifth inning. Darvish then struck out Joc Pederson to end the fifth.
The Padres’ lone run came in the fourth inning. They tied the game 1-1 when Jake Cronenworth, who was hit by a pitch and moved to third base on Manny Machado’s double, scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly.
