ATLANTA _ The Padres need some people to get hot at the plate.
Or just for Franmil Reyes to get that way and Eric Hosmer to stay that way.
At least for a night, the big right fielder's power and the mercurial first baseman's continued resurgence were enough to lift the Padres to a 4-3 victory over the Braves.
With two solo home runs and a double in between them, Reyes drove in the Padres' first three runs. Hosmer, who earlier had extended his hitting streak to five games with a single, homered in the sixth.
Rookie Chris Paddack (2-1) turned in what has become his standard solid start, allowing four hits and two runs in six innings before leaving having thrown 89 pitches.
Trey Wingenter escaped trouble of his own making in the seventh. Craig Stammen allowed a run in the eighth. And Kirby Yates extended his major league lead with his 14th save by striking out two batters and getting help from a laser throw by catcher Francisco Mejia and perfect tag by second baseman Ian Kinsler to catch Charlie Culberson attempting to steal.
After taking a 6-0 lead in the third inning of what would become a 7-6 loss in Washington on Sunday, the Padres scored one run in their next 17 innings. They have really been mired a season-long slump, able to win more than they lose due to consistent pitching and enough timely hits.
They entered Tuesday night having put up the majors' lowest batting average (.202), lowest on-base percentage (.254) and second-lowest OPS (.604) since April 16, a span in which they were 5-6.
And Tuesday afternoon brought word that shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was going on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain. The team's leading run producer so far this season is expected to be among their best players for the next several seasons, and so the Padres have pledged to bring him back only when they are certain he is ready. They project that will mean at least another 11 games after Tuesday in which they will need others to contribute in a bigger way than they have been.
"We have a number of guys we believe have a ton more in the tank than has come out," manager Andy Green said before the second of four games here against the Braves. "So we can cover."
At that point, it seemed Green was like the guy hoping he can make it to the gas station even though his gas gauge has read "E" for 20 miles.
And still, the Padres need their catchers to hit better than the combined .163 Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia are posting. They need Manuel Margot to reach base at better than a .272 clip. They need Wil Myers to not strike out almost 40 percent of the time. They need Manny Machado, their $300 million man, to go on one of the stretches he has reeled off many times in his career that make him one of the game's most dangerous hitters rather than one currently hitting .236 with a .693 OPS.
Stunting a losing streak at two games left the Padres able to simply relish that somebody came through.
Reyes, whose eight home runs lead the team, was not an unlikely candidate. It was his second two-homer game in his past six starts. While he entered the game batting just .205/.264/.462, he had a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning Sunday and was 1-for-4 Monday.
Reyes also generally doesn't hit cheap homers. Not only do they go fast and far _ both had an exit velocity above 103 mph Tuesday and traveled an estimated 406 and 380 feet _ seven of the eight have come in victories, four have broken ties, one tied a game and three have provided what turned out to be the deciding run.
He gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in Tuesday's first inning with his blast to left. After the Braves took a 2-1 lead in the second, Reyes' double to right field in the third scored Greg Garcia to tie it. Reyes' second homer, this one to center field with one out in the sixth, made it 4-3.
Hosmer's 416-foot shot to center field with two outs in the sixth, against Braves starter Julio Teheran (2-4), turned out to be the winning run.
For all his prolonged slumps since joining the Padres, Hosmer is also a candidate at any time to lift the team. He has a career-long tendency to go on tears that can last weeks at a time. He has three homers in his five-game streak.
