Jake Cronenworth's late homer leads Padres past Braves

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Mar 29, 2025

Published in Baseball

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SAN DIEGO — A night of back-and-forth baseball at Petco Park ended the way the San Diego Padres are accustomed to such games ending.

Jake Cronenworth’s home run leading off the eighth inning gave the Padres a lead, and Robert Suarez worked a clean ninth to preserve a 4-3 victory and give the Padres their second dramatic victory in two games this season.

The night began with a blast, as well, before settling into a seesaw.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the first pitch Braves pitcher Reynaldo López into the seats beyond left field.

The lead-off shot by Tatis, batting first for the second time in two games this season, and on Friday against a right-hander, ignited a run of three straight innings in which the Padres scored once.

That got them up 2-0 before the Braves tied the game in the third inning and 3-2 before the Braves tied the game in the fifth.

The Padres then forged another victory with multiple relievers working through more than half the game.

After Michael King lasted just 22/3 innings in the Padres’ come-from-behind victory on opening day, Dylan Cease got one out into the fifth on Friday.

He was a victim of a pitch count that rocketed with a 34-pitch third inning in which all the damage was done after he got two outs.

After Tatis’ blast, the Padres were resilient in getting their next two runs.

They beat out two would-be double plays and got a two-out single from No.9 batter Martín Maldonado to make it 2-0 in the second inning.

Jake Cronenworth led off that inning with a single and was forced out at second on a slow comebacker to López, but Xander Bogaerts just beat out the relay from second base. Gavin Sheets followed with a single that moved Bogaerts to second. Another chopper back to the mound began what might have been another double play if Heyward had not beat the relay from shortstop Nick Allen.

That brought up Maldonado, who fell behind 0-2 before lining a 98 mph fastball over Albies to bring in Bogaerts.

The last of four straight strikeouts got Cease two outs into the third. He had retired seven straight.

That is when Jurickson Profar did what he did so often last season for the Padres. He saw seven pitches from Cease, slapping the last of them the other way into left field for a single. Consecutive walks loaded the bases, and Braves cleanup hitter Marcel Ozuna lined the first pitch he saw past a diving Cronenworth at second base to tie the game.

Cease’s seventh strikeout ended the inning, but it came on his 67th pitch.

Omar Cruz, who had been warming up, sat down.

The Padres proceeded to go back up in the bottom of the third on a single by Jackson Merrill, walk by Cronenworth and a double by Bogaerts, all with two outs.

Cease worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning on 16 pitches and came back out for the fifth.

He threw 74 pitches in his final spring training start, so this was not a steep step up. Plus, manager Mike Shildt had to be wary of using his bullpen so extensively for a second straight day — after six relievers combined to work 61/3 innings in the season opener with four of them throwing at least 23 pitches — and with Randy Vásquez bringing his average of less than five innings per start into his season debut Saturday.

Cease was ahead 1-2 on Jared Kelenic when the Braves No.9 batter pulled a slider at the bottom of the zone down the right field line and over the wall to tie the game 3-3.

Cease got Profar on a groundout before Shildt came out of the dugout and called left-hander Adrián Morejón in from the bullpen.

Morejón retired the next two batters and worked around a lead-off walk in a scoreless sixth inning. His final out came when stopped a 101.6 mph groundball from Drake Baldwin with his backside, picked up the ball and threw out Baldwin at first.

Jeremiah Estrada survived a wild seventh inning to keep the game tied.

Allen, a Francis Parker High alumnus, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third when a third strike sailed high past Maldonado, who then had to throw to first base to get the out on Kelenic. But a pop fly to shortstop by Profar and fly out to center field by Austin Riley ended the inning.

Jason Adam struck out the side around a two-out walk in the eighth.

The Padres went nine up, nine down after Merrill’s third single of the night led off the fifth inning before Cronenworth sent a 1-0 slider into the seats.