Padres beat Braves 7-4 as Colon struggles again

SAN DIEGO -- Luis Perdomo is making up for the odd beginning to his season.

Perdomo pitched five scoreless innings and Hunter Renfroe and Cory Spangenberg contributed two RBI apiece to help the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 7-4 on Wednesday night.

San Diego's Carlos Asuaje and Erick Aybar had three hits each.

Perdomo (3-4), winless after his first 10 starts, won for the third time in his last four outings. The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs and seven hits. He struck out four and walked two.

"I was a lot more focused and that was the biggest difference," Perdomo said through a translator. "It was just more mental tonight. I tried to think about how to execute my game plan and that was what I was focused on."

The Braves, who had won five straight over the Padres, chased Perdomo in the sixth when they scored four times. Earlier Perdomo was aided by two double-play balls as Atlanta lost for just the third time in 11 games.

Brandon Maurer worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save as Perdomo went to 3-1 at Petco Park.

The Padres' bullpen no-hit the Braves over the final 3 2/3 innings.

"For 5 1/3 innings (Perdomo) was absolutely cruising," Padres manager Andy Green said.

Veteran Bartolo Colon (2-8) turned in another disappointing start, pitching for the first time since going on the disabled list with a strained left oblique on June 6. Colon, 44, surrendered six runs, eight hits and three walks over four innings. The four-time All-Star struck out two in losing for the sixth time in his last eight starts as he failed to reach the fifth inning for the third consecutive outing.

"I felt good, I just feel like I've kind of hit a rough streak to be honest and it's tough to just snap out of it," Colon said through a translator. "The reality is that I've been getting hit hard and that's the truth and you can't dance around it."

Braves manager Brain Snitker wasn't promising Colon another start.

"I'm going to process tonight and then kind of see what's going on," he said.

The Braves batted around and pulled to 6-4 in the sixth on former Padre Matt Kemp's two-run single, Tyler Flowers getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and pinch-hitter Lane Adams' fielder's choice.

Renfroe sliced his first career triple the opposite way to right field in the fourth, bringing around Manuel Margot and Wil Myers in extending the Padres' lead to 6-0.

In the third San Diego padded its lead to 4-0 on Myers' RBI infield single and Asuaje's run-scoring hit. Margot stole two bases and Myers advanced on a wild pitch in the inning as Colon struggled to restrict the Padres' running game.

"You can find a lot of positives with our offensive game," said Green, after the team scored its most runs of the season without the benefit of a homer. "I thought the quality of our two-out, (run-scoring) at-bats was something we haven't seen a ton of this year."

The Padres struck quickly, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. They converted walks from Colon to Margot and Renfroe as they scored on Spangenberg's double down the left-field line.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Braves: INF Freddie Freeman, who has been out since mid-May with a wrist injury, took batting practice on Wednesday. He could be sent out for rehab games this weekend. ... C Tyler Flowers was struck by a pitch on his left forearm. The Braves didn't think it was serious but Flowers could miss Thursday's series-finale.

Padres: RHP Trevor Cahill (sore right shoulder) had a minor-league rehab start for Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday. He threw scoreless ball in three of his four innings.

UP NEXT

Braves: LHP Jaime Garcia (2-5, 4.03 ERA) allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings, but got a no-decision when facing the Padres in the season's opening week. Garcia seeks his first win since beating the Giants on May 26.

Padres: RHP Dinelson Lamet (2-4, 6.60 ERA) has dropped his last two decisions over his previous four outings. Despite not getting a decision in his last two starts, he went at least six innings in both

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