The Padres hope to make another statement on the road against the Braves

The San Diego Padres will attempt to win a road series against the Atlanta Braves for the fourth straight year when the two clubs complete a four-game series with a doubleheader on Monday.

San Diego won the first two games of the series, winning 3-1 on Friday and 9-1 on Sunday. It took three games in a four-game set with host Atlanta in 2023 after going 2-1 against the Braves in their place in each of the previous two seasons.

Monday’s double bill was the result of Saturday’s game being canceled.

Dylan Cease (5-3, 2.45 ERA) can help the Padres win the series when he faces fellow right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (2-1, 1.34) in the first game of the doubleheader.

San Diego is expected to turn to another right-hander, Randy Vasquez (0-2, 6.32), for Game 2. Atlanta plans to counter with left-hander Chris Sale (6-1, 2.54).

Cease is in line for his 10th start in 2024, and he will look to bounce back from last Tuesday’s loss to the Rockies. Cease was marked for three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings as Colorado won 6-3.

“They put together a lot of good at-bats against Dylan,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of the Rockies. “They were all over the place after a while.”

In his only previous appearance – a start – against the Braves, Cease earned a victory with five one-run innings on July 16, 2023.

Lopez proved to be an exceptional offseason acquisition and made the transition from reliever to starter. He will be making his eighth start of the year Monday and has yet to allow more than three runs in an outing.

In his last start, Lopez settled for a no-decision after allowing two hits in five scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs last Monday. He had to leave this game early due to back pain, but he should be ready to face San Diego.

“He wanted to get back out there, but we’re not going to take any chances,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He was really, really good again, in his whole pitch mix and his ability to throw strikes. He was an inning ahead of his pitch count, so we kept watching him maybe go to the eighth. We just didn’t want to take all the risks.”

Lopez recorded one scoreless inning of relief in his career against the Padres.

Sale is on a roll, winning in each of his last five starts. Over his last two outings, Sale has recorded 13 scoreless innings, including seven against the Cubs last Tuesday.

In two career starts against San Diego, Sale is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA.

Snitker said catcher Travis d’Arnaud will be behind the plate when Sale takes the hill. d’Arnaud pulled a foul ball off the mask on Friday and had to leave the game after feeling dizzy.

Vasquez, who allowed two runs in 3 1/3 innings in his only career start against Atlanta, suffered a loss to Colorado last Monday in his most recent outing. He allowed five runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

–Field level media