Dylan Dodd struggles as Braves drop series to Padres

A frustrating opening weekend ended Sunday night for the Atlanta Braves with a 10-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. The Braves have now lost three straight and are 6-4 for the season.

Dylan Dodd tossed a scoreless first, but ran into trouble in the second as Jake Cronenworth led off the inning with a hard double off the wall in right. On the next pitch, Ha-Seong Kim doubled off the wall in left center to put the Padres in front 1-0.

The trouble continued for Dodd in the third. Bogaerts led off the inning with a single. Manny Machado then blooped in a single to right that Ronald Acuña Jr. nearly snagged with a sliding catch. Acuña was then slow getting the ball in which allowed Bogaerts to move all the way to third.

Dodd got Juan Soto to pop out to Orlando Arcia at short for the first out, but then gave up a rocket home run to Nelson Cruz to extend San Diego’s lead to 4-0.

Dodd came back out for the fourth and allowed a solo home run to Trent Grisham on the first pitch to make it 5-0. Dodd retired Jose Azocar and Bogaerts for the first two outs. Machado then singled to right, but was thrown out by Acuña trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Dodd continued to struggle in the fifth. Soto lined an 0-2 pitch off the top of the wall in right center to begin the inning. Cruz brought him home with a double down the line in left to make it 6-0. A wild pitch moved Cruz to third, before Dodd struck out Cronenworth looking. Brian Snitker would then go to the bullpen for Lucas Luetge who immediately allowed a two-run home run to Kim to make it 8-0.

It was a tough night for Dodd overall as he lived in the strike zone, but didn’t miss many bats. He allowed 10 hits and seven runs, including a pair of homers, in just 4 1/3 innings. Dodd walked one and had three strikeouts while throwing 84 pitches.

The Braves finally got on the board in the fifth. Orlando Arcia and Sam Hilliard singled to put runners on the corners to start the inning. Hilliard moved to second on a wild pitch before Acuña grounded to Bogaerts who threw to third in time to nab Hilliard. Arcia scored to make it 8-1.

The Padres continued to pour it on in the sixth against Luetge. Cruz drove in two more with a bases loaded single to make it 10-1.

Joe Jimenez tossed a scoreless seventh which was the first scoreless inning by a Braves pitcher since Dodd in the first. Atlanta added another run in the seventh when Matt Olson brought home Arcia to make it 10-2.

A.J. Minter, who hadn’t pitched since Thursday, worked a scoreless eighth. Danny Young worked a scoreless ninth.

Not a lot of positives in this one. Acuña reached base three times in the loss. Atlanta left nine more men on base and were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

A rotten series ended in rotten fashion. The Braves will need to flush it and prepare for the Cincinnati Reds who arrive Monday night to begin a three-game series.