The Atlanta Braves came into San Diego to take on the Padres on a three-game weekday series beginning on Monday night. Atlanta comes into Monday night with one of the best records in MLB (48-28), and sitting atop the NL East. San Diego comes back home to Petco Park after an 11-day road trip, where they’d go 4-5 in Baltimore, St. Louis and Texas.

The Padres have a tough road ahead from now until the All-Star break. Their next 20 games consist of the Braves, Dodgers, Cubs, Dodgers again, Diamondbacks and the Blue Jays. All teams who are certainly in the playoff picture. If there was ever a time for this team to get the bats going, it would be right now.

Grant Holmes started the game for the Braves. Holmes in 2026, has tossed 68 2/3 innings and has posted an ERA of 4.33.

Michael King looked to do what he did against the Braves in the Wild Card series two years ago. Coming into Monday, King has struggled with finding a groove on the mound. King’s ERA through his first 15 starts is 3.60, while striking out just 7.7 batters per nine innings.

Fernando back at the top

After a day off on Sunday, Fernando Tatis Jr. is back in the leadoff spot and playing right field. Tatis Jr. has an .831 OPS in 37 games played at Petco Park in 2026.

Monday night matchup. pic.twitter.com/EGv542FjYF

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 22, 2026

Merrill saves extra bases

Jackson Merrill crashes into the right-center field wall to rob Michael Harris II. The catch would help King toss a six-pitch, 1-2-3 fourth inning.

Classic Jackson. pic.twitter.com/on4C0oFMUq

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 23, 2026

Manny stays hot

Manny Machado deposits a ball into the left-center bullpens to get the scoring going.

Absolutely crushed it ? pic.twitter.com/ZUqx3s1m4q

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 23, 2026

Stellar King

Michael King gave it his best against one of the premier offenses in baseball. The Atlanta offense would go seven scoreless innings against King, just simply unable to string anything together. King would allow six hits, while striking out five. The biggest thing for King was his zero walks allowed. In each of King’s previous two starts, he would walk three men. All in all, King tossed 93 pitches with 62 of them being for strikes. Batters swung and missed 11 times vs. the San Diego starter.

Michael King strikes out Jorge Mateo and he’s through 7 shutout innings against the best team in baseball, the Braves#padres #forthefaithful pic.twitter.com/KQ60FH0YwS

— Padres Highlights (@FriarHighlights) June 23, 2026

Morejón and Miller close it out 

Adrián Morejón entered the game for the Padres for his regular eighth inning duties. Morejón struck out the first two Braves he faced in Mauricio Dubón and Drake Baldwin, punching out Baldwin for his fourth K of the night. The lefty would retire Matt Olson to induce a 1-2-3 eighth inning and keep the game at 1-0 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Mason Miller slammed the door on the the Braves. Miller retired Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II with ease but came some two-out magic for the Braves. An Austin Riley single and a Dominic Smith walk would make it interesting for Mike Yaztrzemski who would follow. Yaztrzemski would strike out looking on a back door slider that would end the game, 1-0 Padres.

Recap

Michael King earned his first win since May 18th against the Dodgers which happened to be another 1-0 win.

Grant Holmes would worsen his record to 4-4 on the season, after his one earned run allowed.

Mason Miller logged his NL-leading 21st save of the season. Miller’s ERA is now 0.84.

The Padres reached the 40-win mark, with their record now standing at 40-37.

Atlanta drops to 48-29 through their first 77 games of 2026.

Middle game on Tuesday

Atlanta and San Diego will meet on Tuesday evening for the middle game of this three-game series. 22 year-old JR Ritchie will take the mound for the Braves and make his eighth appearance of his big league career. Ritchie has logged 35 2/3 innings and has a 4.54 ERA. Griffin Canning is expected to get bulk innings for San Diego. Last time Canning pitched, Bradgley Rodriguez pitched as the opener to an eventual 6-1 Padres win in St. Louis. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:40 PM PT at Petco Park.

Angel Flores

Angel grew up a San Diego sports fan, following the Padres, SDSU athletics, San Diego FC, as well as the Chargers. He is currently a third year community college student, and will transfer to SDSU to pursue a career in Journalism.