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Padres Press Clips Saturday, June 17, 2018

Article Source Author Page Padres pitchers positive Darren Balsley is the best SD Union Tribune Acee 2 Lyles strong, Newcomb stronger (again) as Braves beat Padres SD Union Tribune Acee 8 Padres notes: more bullpen games possible; Mac's managing; SD Union Tribune Acee 10 Capps' rehab Number of Padres could return next week, including Wil Myers SD Union Tribune Acee 13 Lyles, Padres fall on wrong end of pitchers' duel MLB.com McElhaney 15 Green tabs Strahm for 'bullpen day' start MLB.com McElhaney 17 Newcomb, Culberson power Braves past Padres, 1-0 AP AP 19 Braves’ Teheran returns from DL to pitch against Padres FOX Sports Stats 22 Prospect watch: MacKenzie Gore continues comeback from FOX Sports Horvath 24 blister issue

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Padres pitchers positive Darren Balsley is the best

Kevin Acee

A Padres pitcher was throwing in the bullpen earlier this week and struggling to get his changeup to do the proper dance to the proper place.

Once, twice, a third time. Wasn’t happening.

Darren Balsley spoke up, the way he does. Softly, without moving.

“Hey, just think of spinning it,” Balsley said. “Don’t worry about where it’s going. Just spin it.”

Clayton Richard happened to be watching this session. That he’d seen something like it plenty of times before, that he’d experienced Balsley’s whispered mind-altering powers on many occasions, didn’t make it any less impressive.

“Next pitch,” Richard said, “it was a perfect change-up down in the zone with a lot of action.”

This is why Balsley has been the Padres pitching coach for 15 years, the second-longest tenure by any major league pitching coach. It’s why he’s working for his third manager.

“It’s his ability to be relentlessly optimistic and – more important – his ability to communicate with the pitcher in a way the pitcher can apply,” Richard said. “It’s very difficult, because when we go out there, our mind drives our body. And so many pitching coaches want to analyze what your body is doing. But if you can’t make a connection with what your mind is telling your body to do, it is not going to be able to change anything. He’s able to tell us the small keys that get our mind to work the way it should.”

This is why, while the Padres have been dreadful for much of Balsley’s time with the team, their pitching staff has been somewhere between superb and good (or at least better than expected) pretty much every year.

We all wonder sometimes, right, what exactly a pitching coach does?

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Well, spend much time around the Padres, and the question becomes what the pitchers would do without their guru/sensei/soothsayer and counselor/mentor/teacher/friend.

Honestly, get someone to talk about you the way Padres pitchers talk about their pitching coach.

Or the way the Padres pitching coach talks about his pitchers.

“I’m fortunate to have been here such a long time,” Balsley said. “But I’m more so fortunate the guys I’ve had around me.”

As he whirred through a mental Rolodex over the course of multiple conversations this week, Balsley continually fretted he wasn’t giving credit where it was due.

“I’m afraid I may be leaving some guys out,” he said at one point. “... They’re super special to me.”

Passion, positivity, preparation

Darren Balsley was meant to be a pitching coach — and the Padres pitching coach, in particular.

“I’m so passionate about the Padres,” he said. “I grew up as a Padres fan. I went to games with my mom at the Murph. I always wanted to be a Padre. It didn’t happen as a player. It happened as a coach. I don’t know if anybody is born to coach, but for me to wear the ‘SD’ is super important to me.”

After playing at Mt. Carmel High School – where he was part of Sam Blalock’s first two CIF champions in 1981 and ’82 and credits Blalock with running practice even back then “like major league spring training” – and also Palomar College, Balsley was drafted by the A’s. He pitched six seasons in the minor leagues for the A’s and Blue Jays.

He then coached 13 years in the minors before being summoned from Double-A and installed as the Padres’ pitching coach on May 17, 2003.

There was immediate improvement. And in the 14 full seasons since, his staffs have been ranked in the top five in ERA six times. Since the start of ’04, his first full season, the Padres pitching staff ranks eighth in ERA, seventh in WHIP and fifth in batting average against.

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How?

Well, Balsley would list the 224 pitchers who have appeared in a game for the Padres in that span if he could.

He says he learns more from players than they do from him. He repeatedly talks about a few, in particular.

“A big help to me was Trevor Hoffman was here in 2003,” Balsley said. “He treated me like gold right away. That helped me. I was intimidated, being a Padres fan. … Trevor helped me tremendously in the early years. I had Trevor and (Greg) Maddux. They treated me really well, but they also accepted coaching and they also were all about team. As I’ve moved forward, I’ve tried to teach that concept.

“I’ve been fortunate to have those type of guys around. It makes me work harder. It’s kind of hard to tell Trevor Hoffman or Greg Maddux ‘I don’t know’ when they ask a question. So I have to be prepared. And if I don’t know, I’ll find out. That’s something I learned quick. … David Wells, Greg Maddux, Andy Ashby, so many names that had been super successful in the big leagues. I was terrified for one of them to ask me a question and I’d have to say, ‘I don’t know.’ ”

Balsley unfailingly re-directs praise to the dozens of pitchers whose careers he has either jump-started or resurrected.

“It’s the character of the guys I get,” he said. “They’ve been really good at trying new things, having the courage to try new things. … A lot of them have had to make pretty large changes. It takes a lot of courage to do that. I allow them to make the decision, with a suggestion, and they’ve had the courage.”

He points out his failings and what he learned from them.

“It’s trial and error,” Balsley said. “I was a coach at the age of 25. To this day, I have failures as a coach. Probably far more back then. Working with a lot of pitchers in 29 years, you learn different personalities, what guys need, different talent levels, ways of communicating.”

It has to be mentioned how much Balsley and bullpen coach Doug Bochtler prepare, the ways they find to empower their pitchers for success. To a man, every pitcher who played elsewhere before joining the Padres say the scouting reports they receive on opposing batters is more comprehensive – yet more easily digestible – than anything they’ve ever been given.

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But it is in all those answers above from Balsley that it is revealed how he came to know so much about pitching, why he makes sure his preparation makes his pitchers are prepared and how his heart for their success drives his ability to touch their souls.

Passing it along

When Matt Strahm was traded from the Royals to the Padres last summer, he got a call from Chris Young.

“You’re going to be really excited to work with Bals,” Young told him.

When Craig Stammen signed before the 2017 season, he heard from his mentor, a 15-year veteran who played for nine different teams.

“Jason Marquis said he’s the best pitching coach he’s ever had,” Stammen said.

For Phil Hughes, it was Ian Kennedy who let him know how lucky he was to have been traded to the Padres last month.

Hughes, who had been designated for assignment and is still working his way back from a second shoulder surgery, found out right away why Balsley is spoken of so highly by his former pupils.

Among the few simple suggestions Balsley had, he suggested in their first meeting that Hughes throw a two-seam fastball, something he hadn’t done much in 12 seasons.

It’s too early to tell whether Hughes will be Balsley’s latest resurrection, and the results right now aren’t as important as this:

“He’s got a good eye for what guys can excel in,” Hughes said. “Right off the bat we watched some video. He talked about my arm stroke and what type of pitches would work well for me. He’s a guy who knows a lot about the nuances of pitches. He’s not just like, ‘You should throw the change-up and slider – and for no good reason. Guys will say that. But he actually understands what pitches will work for guys and maybe what pitches won’t.

“He’s the first guy that has ever even brought up that I do a weird thing with my wrist out of the glove. He’s the first guy who said, ‘This pitch will work for you because you do this.’ He just sees things that certain guys don’t.”

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The reason

Tyson Ross called Darren Balsley before he talked to anyone else with the Padres – or even thought there was a chance to sign with the team this past offseason.

Balsley had turned him into one of the majors’ top pitchers after the Padres acquired him prior to the 2013 season.

“I got to the major leagues pretty quickly, but I found a million ways to fail,” said Ross, who had a 5.33 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in three seasons with the A’s. “And no one really had answers for me. Everyone wanted to change my mechanics or do different things that took away from me being me. He found a way to say, ‘Hey, you’re pretty good as you are. We’ve just got to get your timing a little better. We’ve got to get you to pound the strike zone and get a glove-side fastball that you can command.’

“He was able to do that in two bullpens when I first got here. It’s a gift, really. His ability to connect with an individual on a one-to-one basis in a language they’re going to understand and be able to apply immediately is why so many pitchers trust him.”

Ross had a 3.07 ERA and 1.23 WHIP for the Padres from 2013-15 before missing virtually all of the ’16 season and having surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. He signed with the Rangers in 2017, was in the majors by last June and was released with a few weeks remaining in the season, having pitched just 49 innings and amassed a 7.71 ERA and 1.84 WHIP.

When the season was over, he called Balsley to “pick his brain.” His old coach had some suggestions.

“He cares about his guys,” said Ross, who has been a revelation this season, posting a 3.51 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 82 innings. “Once you’ve pitched for him, he cares. … He said he watched me a lot of games in the clubhouse. I believed him. I see how he watches (Andrew) Cashner’s games and different guys around the league who used to pitch for him.

“He was giving me some good feedback. He gave me some enthusiasm about my offseason throwing and what I needed to work on to get back to being me.”

That’s the theme. It’s remarkably simple.

Their best is all Balsley wants from his pitchers. He just has the ability to see a version of their best, where maybe other coaches and even the pitcher don’t.

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“He’s realistic in his expectations and what we’re capable of doing,” Stammen said. “And his realistic view of us is really high. … There is no negative about it. But he’s always working with us to get a little little bit better here, a little bit better there. It’s not Pollyanna positive, where he says stuff just to say it.

“He’s been around so long. He’s helped people turn their careers around, turn their season around, turn their day around. He just has so many different ways he has a remedy. It’s like he’s got a medicine cabinet, a bunch of tools he has in the shed he can use.”

It’s a focus on the possible. And it’s a focus on positive.

Said Robbie Erlin: “If you talk to him about something that happened in a previous outing and you go, ‘I feel this pitch was a bad pitch,’ he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, it was a bad pitch, but these ones were good. So try to ingrain those ones.’ Any time you get done working with him, you always leave there with confidence.”

Kirby Yates recalls going to Balsley with a conviction that a certain pitch wasn’t working.

“Well, you’re wrong,” Balsley told him.

Said Yates: “And he’ll show it to you. He proves it to you. That makes you listen. You have no choice but to listen, because he’s right. It can be video, numbers. He shows it to you. He says, ‘I don’t care what you think your fastball is doing, because they’re not hitting it.’ He puts confidence in you. He breeds confidence. He’s an awesome human being.”

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Lyles strong, Newcomb stronger (again) as Braves beat Padres

Kevin Acee

Jordan Lyles pitched well. Really well.

He didn’t pitch Sean Newcomb well. But then, few can be as successful as Newcomb is against the Padres.

For the third time in three career starts against the Padres — the second time this month — the left-hander threw six shutout innings on Saturday.

When he departed, having sat through a 25-minute weather delay plus the time it took Lyles to complete the bottom of the sixth, the Padres could not put a dent in a Braves bullpen against which they had scored at least one run in each of the teams’ first five games this season.

And on the strength of Charlie Culberson launching a 92 mph fastball served belt high and to the center of the plate on the second pitch of the fourth inning, the Braves won 1-0.

“Any time you give up one run on a solo home run,” manager Andy Green said, “you deserve to win a baseball game.”

Newcomb’s fastball, which touched 95 mph Saturday, jumps through the top of the zone.

“If there’s a profile of a guy that’s tough for our group collectively, that’s the profile right there,” Green said. “… We have to shorten up, connect. We weren’t able to do that today.”

Most notably, simply putting the ball in play once more in the first inning would likely have given the Padres a lead.

But after Jose Pirela led off the game with a double, Eric Hosmer moved him to third base with a ground out and Hunter Renfroe walked, Christian Villanueva and Franmil Reyes struck out.

A.J. Ellis would get the Padres’ only other hit off Newcomb (8-2). That was one fewer hit than they managed against the left-hander in a 14-1 loss on June 5 at Petco Park.

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Their other hits were Freddy Galvis’ two-out single off Dan Winkler in the seventh and Hunter Renfroe’s one-out double in the ninth of closer Arodys Vizcaino, who hit Cory Spangenberg before striking out Reyes on a 98 mph fastball that was well inside and getting Galvis to ground out.

The loss assured the Padres won’t win their sixth straight series, though they can split this four-game set with a victory Sunday.

Besides Culberson’s homer, Lyles (2-4) allowed just four singles in seven innings. That included a roller through the infield and two balls that didn’t leave the infield.

He spun a tighter curveball and threw more strikes than he had been in scuffling through four of his past five starts, throwing 66 strikes among his 95 pitches.

“Overall, a good outing,” he said. “Their starting pitcher was just a few pitches better than I was today.”

It was of particular import that Lyles endured the delay, which featured scarce rain but was necessitated by a lightning and hail warning in the area.

“We were fortunate it was a short one,” Lyles said.

Green asked him how he was feeling as the delay was nearing its conclusion. Lyles told him he had “plenty left” in him. Green wanted one more inning. Lyles gave him two.

Kirby Yates pitched a perfect eighth, and that left the bullpen fresh for Sunday, when a cast of relievers will again be asked to fill in for Joey Lucchesi, who has been on the disabled list since May 15 with a hip strain.

“Any time I can scratch out an inning or two more for those guys I know how much that means to them,” said Lyles, who has pitched before each of the four bullpen games. “… I always do it for the boys out there.”

Left-hander Matt Strahm will start Sunday, same as he has in the previous three games the Padres have relied on their bullpen.

Strahm has allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings as a starter, including three perfect innings Tuesday in St. Louis. After losing their first “bullpen game,” the Padres have won the past two, allowing a total of three runs.

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Padres notes: more bullpen games possible; Mac's managing; Capps' rehab

Kevin Acee

This might not be the Padres’ final bullpen game.

What began out of necessity has become an intriguing possibility, and Andy Green plans to ride it, see where it goes.

Even when Joey Lucchesi comes off the disable list – perhaps as soon as the middle of the coming week – Green said everything and anything is possible.

“I don’t know for certain,” Green said. “We’ll wait and see what is best for us. … We’re not going to make (decisions) based on convention or based on some desire to be different. We’re going to make them based on what we think gives us the best opportunity to win the most number of games.”

For the fourth time in four weeks -- and the third time in a row in this spot in their starting rotation – the Padres will go with a cast of relievers in Sunday’s series finale against the Braves. Matt Strahm will start, with the idea he will go up to four innings.

With Strahm allowing one run in 7 1/3 innings as the “starter” in the first three games, the bullpen has gone 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA. That number was inflated by (since-demoted) Tyler Webb allowing four runs in the eighth inning of a 6-4 loss May 27 against the Dodgers. The bullpen has allowed three runs in winning the last two games, including 3-1 over the Braves on June 6 at Petco Park.

The Padres won’t always carry nine relievers, as they are now, just to be able to throw bullpen games. But they will still have a unique group in the bullpen.

Robbie Erlin and Bryan Mitchell have started this season and both gone at least 5 2/3 innings in a game. Adam Cimber and Matt Strahm have both gone three innings. Every other Padres reliever has thrown two innings at least once and more than one inning on multiple occasions.

“It depends on your roster construction,” Green said. “You don’t set out with this goal of, ‘I’m going to create this structure so our team does something different. … The construction of our roster and our bullpen affords us the type of options that other roster constructions don’t afford. So it’s sustainable for us in my mind. It’s not sustainable year-to-year if you have a different structure of guys.”

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Lucchesi, who went on the DL May 15 with a hip strain, will be limited in the number of pitches he throws when he returns. That will tax the bullpen to some extent.

The Padres are off Monday and have two more off days before July 3. That not only gives starters extra days, it can help preserve the relievers.

“You just figure that out,” Green said. “Then you can navigate games in a number of different ways when you have a many guys who are capable of as much as our guys are capable.”

Mac manages with pen in mind

The flow and circumstances of games leading up to each of the Padres’ bullpen games has worked out.

Starters have gone relatively deep into games. There haven’t been extra innings. Even getting beat by 13 runs the night before one of the bullpen games allowed them to use Phil Hughes for two-inning mop-up duty and infielder Cory Spangenberg for one to preserve the bulk of their relievers for use in the bullpen games.

Sunday’s game was on bench coach Mark McGwire’s mind when he kept reliever Jose Castillo in to hit in the ninth inning Friday with the bases loaded and the Padres leading by four runs.

“When you had a nice little lead and have the bullpen we have and you think about the next couple games, there’s no reason to wear it out,” said McGwire, who was managing in place of the ejected Andy Green. “And I want to give this young kid his first RBI.”

McGwire laughed as he said the last part. Castillo, who pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, actually grounded into what initially was ruled an inning-ending double play. However, the umpires subsequently ruled Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson had not touched second base.

“It was one of those things – lets do it,” McGwire said. “We were playing with house money.”

McGwire, who is in his third season as Green’s bench coach, has in the past expressed interest in managing. But he seems in no hurry.

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“I’ve never had any expectations of anything,” he said. “I’ve taken this year by year.”

Starting over

Carter Capps spent parts of five seasons in the major leagues. The right-hander struck out 58 batters in 31 innings for the Marlins in 2015.

He began pitching this week for the sort-season Single-A Tri-City Dust Devils.

Capps had thoracic outlet surgery in September. He has described that surgery as not as severe as some others who have undergone the traumatic procedure, but there is another complication that has complicated his return.

Capps’ hop-step delivery was deemed illegal by Major League Baseball, and he has struggled to get the mechanics of a compliant delivery together while maintaining command and velocity.

Capps was throwing in the high 90s and regularly reached 100 mph before and after 2016 Tommy John surgery.

“I know he’s still working through some things mechanically,” Green said. “… He’s been out for a considerable period of time from competitive play, so he’s kind of rebooting the system – or attempting to – and trying to get this thing moving in the right direction. We love the work ethic. We love the makeup. He’s just had a hard time making that adjustment that Major League Baseball dictates he makes.”

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Number of Padres could return next week, including Wil Myers

Kevin Acee

Andy Green continues to pledge the Padres will exercise extreme caution with Wil Myers.

But Green had also been reticent to even provide a potential time frame for Myers’ return from oblique and back strains. So it was at least a cause for optimism that the Padres manager even included Myers among Franchy Cordero, Austin Hedges and Joey Lucchesi, all of whom were known to have a chance to return from the disabled list soon.

“I don’t know the specific date when we see those guys,” Green said. “At varying times, all those guys are possibilities for the upcoming week.”

Myers was scheduled to have an off day Saturday at Triple-A El Paso after playing right field and going 1-for-4 both Thursday and Friday.

“His body feels good,” said Green, who talked with Myers. “Timing probably a little bit off. He said no alerts, no red flags. … He’s getting at-bats. We’re not going to rush him back by any stretch. He played two. He’s going to be off. He’ll play (Sunday). We’ll find out more about him at that point in time.

“He’s going to play more than three, for sure. We’re going to continue to take it day-by-day with him.”

Myers just began doing baseball activity two weeks ago. Prior to Thursday, he had not played in a game since April 28.

Outfielder Franchy Cordero, also in El Paso and on the DL since May 28 with a forearm strain, is likely to beat Myers back.

Catcher Austin Hedges’ rehab assignment is moving to El Paso from Single-A Lake Elsinore, where he caught in three of the past four games. The reports on how his elbow has responded have been positive as well.

Starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi (hip strain) threw a bullpen session Saturday, two days after pitching four hitless innings for Elsinore in his first rehab start. How he feels Sunday will help determine whether he makes another rehab start in the minors or rejoins the team midweek.

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There are an abundance of possible roster machinations when the four players return.

The most obvious combination involves the Padres eliminating two current outfielders, one of their nine relief pitchers and a catcher.

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Lyles, Padres fall on wrong end of pitchers' duel

Veteran righty saddled with loss despite throwing seven strong innings Tori McElhaney MLB.com ATLANTA -- Padres starter Jordan Lyles deserved a better fate than taking the loss Saturday, when the Braves edged San Diego, 1-0, at SunTrust Park.

"Any time you give up one run on a solo home run, you definitely deserve to win a baseball game," Padres manager Andy Green said.

Lyles and Braves starter Sean Newcomb locked into a pitchers' duel early on, as the game remained scoreless through the first four innings. Charlie Culberson changed that in the bottom of the fifth, smacking a four-seam fastball from Lyles over the left-field fence to give the Braves the only run they would need.n. 16th, 2018

"It [bothers me] a little, but there are so many mistakes that a pitcher makes during the game, you can't harp on one," Lyles said. "Obviously, I would have loved to have that [pitch] back and placed it a little lower, down and away. That's where I was trying to go."

Despite the strong outing, Lyles didn't get much help from his offense. After posting 14 hits Friday night, the Padres were held to just four hits Saturday. A lot of that, according to Green, can be attributed to Newcomb. After allowing two hits through the first two innings, Newcomb retired 13 consecutive Padres batters, finishing with seven strikeouts, before giving way to reliever Dan Winkler to begin the seventh following a 25-minute rain delay.

"If there is a profile of a guy who is tough for our group collectively, that's the profile right there," Green said of Newcomb. "He's throwing fastballs by us at the top of the zone. We have to shorten up and connect, and we weren't able to do that today."

Lyles' performance (7 innings, 5 hits, 6 K's) was his best in more than a month. Prior to Saturday, the right-hander had posted a 7.48 ERA over his past five starts.. 16th, 2018

"Their starting pitcher was just a few pitches better than I was today," Lyles said.

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The Padres threatened in the ninth, putting two runners on with one out, but Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino struck out Franmil Reyes and induced a groundout from Freddy Galvis to earn his 14th save., 2018

MOMENT THAT MATTERED Hot start fizzles: After taking a two-run, first-inning lead over the Braves on Friday, the Padres' first inning Saturday felt like another setup to strike first. After a leadoff double from Jose Pirela and a walk from Hunter Renfroe, the Padres had runners on first and third with one out. However, Newcomb settled in and struck out Christian Villanueva and Reyes to get out of the jam. Villanueva and Reyes accounted for seven of the Padres' 12 strikeouts on the night.. 16th, 2018

"In that first inning, when we created that first-and-third opportunity with the heart of our order up, we have to have contact, and we didn't get it," Green said. "All you are looking for is to put the ball in play, and you score a run. That's necessary to beat good starting pitchers and to also knock them off-balance at the beginning of the game."

SOUND SMART Lyles became the first Padres pitcher to take a loss despite allowing just one run in seven innings since Drew Pomeranz lost to the Dodgers on May 1, 2016.

HE SAID IT "[Lyles] was outstanding, even with the one pitch that gets hit out. You can't define a day by one pitch." -- Green

UP NEXT The Padres will conclude their four-game set with the Braves at SunTrust Park with a 10:35 a.m. PT finale. San Diego will employ their "bullpen day" strategy, pitching all relievers, with Matt Strahm getting his third start in June. The Braves will send out Julio Teheran, who will make his first start since being put on the disabled list with a jammed right thumb on June 5.

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Green tabs Strahm for 'bullpen day' start

San Diego expects to use all relievers, which has worked well Tori McElhaney MLB.com ATLANTA -- The Padres announced Saturday night that Matt Strahm will start the finale of a four-game set against the Braves on Sunday at SunTrust Park, as the team plans to use the "bullpen day" approach for the third time since the start of June. The decision as to which San Diego reliever was going to take the mound first Sunday was up in the air until after Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Braves concluded. When Strahm wasn't needed in relief, Green made the announcement official.

The success the Padres' relievers have garnered over the past few series has given Green plenty of options, and the skipper hasn't been holding back his praise for the group.

"We have a bullpen that's as good as any in baseball," Green said before Friday night's 9-3 win over the Braves, during which his relievers pitched three scoreless innings.

San Diego has won 12 of its last 18 games, and Padres relievers have a 5-0 mark with a 2.67 ERA during that span. In the club's last eight games, the bullpen has held opponents to a .128 average, allowing only two extra-base hits while averaging more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings.n. 6th, 2018

These numbers make Green pretty confident with whomever he puts out there, regardless of the situation, starting or otherwise.

"We have enough length in that bullpen," Green said. "That length hasn't been tested at all, so we have a lot of really fresh arms there ready to go."

Will the team employ the strategy when Joey Lucchesi, who is on a rehab assignment with Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore, returns to the starting rotation? Green said it's not a given that it goes away.

However, if it does stick, that doesn't mean Lucchesi will be moved out of the starting rotation. Green said the left-hander will start when he returns.

Bullpen days are not an option for many teams across the Majors. The Padres' confidence in the strategy does not stem from wanting to be unique, it stems

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from the way the roster is composed, especially given the recent success of San Diego's relievers.

"You don't set out with this goal of, 'I'm going to create this structure so our team does something different,'" Green said. "We have a lot options, and just the structure of our roster and bullpen affords us those types of decisions that other roster constructions don't."

Moving up to El Paso

After making appearances in three games with Lake Elsinore, catcher Austin Hedges will travel to Triple-A El Paso on Saturday to join rehabbing outfielders Franchy Cordero and Wil Myers.

While there are still no timetables for their return, Green said all three players could be called up relatively soon.

"I don't know the specific date when we will see those guys," Green said. "But at varying times, all those guys are possibilities for the upcoming week."

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Newcomb, Culberson power Braves past Padres, 1-0 AP ATLANTA -- Sean Newcomb is maturing quickly in his second full season in the majors. "I think I'm doing a better job of just managing everything in general," Newcomb said. "Looking back at old starts and taking all the positives from it rather than beating myself up about it or trying to overdo something the next start."

The 25-year-old Newcomb pitched six scoreless innings, Charlie Culbersonhomered, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 1-0 on Saturday. The NL East-leading Braves improved to 25-7 when their starter pitches at least six innings, and Newcomb has been a big reason for the success.

A winner in eight of his last nine decisions, Newcomb (8-2) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out seven. He retired the last 13 batters he faced and is 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA when starting after the Braves lost their previous game.

Dan Winkler faced four batters in the seventh, A.J. Minter faced the minimum in the eighth and closer Arodys Vizcaino earned his 14th save in 16 chances by working through a shaky ninth. Hunter Renfroe doubled with one out, and pinch-hitter Cory Spangenburg got plunked in the right side before Vizcaino struck out Franmil Reyes and retired Freddy Galvis on a grounder. Jordan Lyles (2-4) allowed two base runners -- a single by Dansby Swanson in the first and another by Culberson in the second -- before Culberson's third homer made it 1-0 in the fifth. Lyles turned in a solid performance after entering the game 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in three career starts and one relief appearance against Atlanta. He gave up five hits and struck out six in his best outing since pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings against Colorado on May 15.

"We got ahead of guys (in the count) unlike we did back home against these guys, but overall not too many hard-hit balls," Lyles said. "Just the one mistake to Charlie."

Braves starters began the day ranked fourth in the majors with a 3.35 ERA and they improved to 5-1 with a 1.09 ERA in their last 10 home games. Newcomb has

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been particularly tough on San Diego, pitching six scoreless innings in each of his three career starts.

"He went out in the sixth and had a 3-0 count on that first hitter and just kind of locked in," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "It was really good. How he doesn't panic, how he's always staying pitch to pitch and just going to work. You expect that out of him now."

Jose Pirela doubled to begin the game and advanced to third before Newcomb struck out Christian Villaneuva and Franmil Reyes. That was the only trouble he faced. "There were some power guys that I was trying to attack," Newcomb said. "I didn't want them to hit something soft and do something with it. I knew I'd get some in the top of the zone. I was doing that. It was good."

The Padres had won three of four and 12 of 17, but dropped to 34-39, last in the NL West.

They didn't match up well again with Newcomb, who has six starts when not allowing a run, most in the majors this year.

"There's a profile of a guy that's tough for our group collectively -- a guy that's throwing fastballs by us in the top of the zone," San Diego manager Andy Green said. "I think people can see that. We have to shorten up and connect and weren't able to do that today.

STILL STREAKING

Braves 1B Freddie Freeman went 1 for 3 and has hit safely in 26 of 27 for a .377 average since May 19. He leads the NL in batting average, hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and total bases. SHORT PAUSE

The game was delayed 25 minutes by rain in the middle of the sixth.

BIG CROWD

The Braves announced their fifth sellout this year and 41,916 tickets sold, the largest crowd in SunTrust Park's two-year history.

TRAINER'S ROOM

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Padres: RF Wil Myers, sidelined 44 games with a strained left oblique, has gone 2 for 8 with one RBI in two rehab games with Triple-A El Paso. Myers, who hit a combined 58 homers the last two years, might return next week. Braves: LF Ronald Acuna Jr. ran the bases vigorously before the game and told manager Brian Snitker immediately afterward that he was "ready to go." Acuna has been sidelined since May 28 with a sprained left knee sprain and bruises to his knee and lower back. Snitker said he will report to extended spring training in Orlando by Monday before beginning a rehab assignment. ... RHP Mike Foltynewicz was placed on the 10-day disabled list with triceps tightness. After Foltynewicz threw a bullpen session Saturday, the team decided to give him extra rest in hopes of bringing him back next weekend. The team hopes he returns next weekend. UP NEXT

Padres: Green has yet to announce a starter for Sunday's series finale, but will use relief pitchers throughout.

Braves: RHP Julio Teheran has been reinstated from the disabled list and will make his 14th start this season and 10th of his career against San Diego. Teheran missed over a week with a sore thumb. He is 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA in his last four starts.

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Braves’ Teheran returns from DL to pitch against Padres STATS

ATLANTA — The San Diego Padres know they won’t be getting many innings from their first pitcher on Sunday. The Atlanta Braves hope that isn’t the case with their starter as well.

Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran will make his first start since being activated from the disabled list Saturday to face San Diego, which will use a bullpen game in the finale of the four-game series at SunTrust Park.

The Braves (41-29) increased their lead in the National League East to 2 1/2 games with a 1-0 victory on Saturday that guaranteed the Padres (34-39) wouldn’t win a sixth consecutive series.

Teheran (4-4, 4.31 ERA) came out after one batter in the fifth inning of a loss at San Diego on June 4 because of a right thumb contusion and hopes the rest during his DL stint will help him regain some of his lost velocity.

The 27-year-old former all-star gave up three homers while losing his third straight start. His average fastball velocity this season is 89.2 mph compared with 91.4 mph last year.

Even before jamming a finger while batting, Teheran’s fastballs were mostly in the 85-87 mph range against the Padres, and three long balls raised his season total to 14.

“My arm has been sore,” Teheran admitted for the first time last Sunday while the Braves were in Los Angeles playing the Dodgers. “Obviously as a pitcher you have games where you don’t feel 100 percent. This year for me it’s been kind of up and down.”

Teheran is 1-3 with a 6.11 ERA and eight home runs allowed in 28 innings during his past five starts.

“Whenever you’re fighting through soreness, one day you feel good and the next day you don’t. You still go out there and compete,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. But working on it, we’ll see if this (next) couple of months we’ll get my velo back.”

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Right-handed reliever Matt Strahm (1-2, 2.55) will get his fourth spot start for the Padres as manager Andy Green turns to his bullpen to fill in the rotation spot left open by the hip injury to rookie left-hander Joey Lucchesi.

Strahm has a 1.23 ERA in 7 1/3 innings as a starter after throwing three perfect innings in the Padres’ victory over the Cardinals in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Submarine right-hander Adam Cimber followed Strahm with one-hit ball for three scoreless innings and the Padres won their second straight bullpen game after a victory over the Braves on June 6 in San Diego.

“It’s got to be tough as a hitter,” Green said. “First, you have a lefty slinger throwing 95-96 (mph). Next at-bat, you’ve got a drop-down righty coming from underneath. It’s just two radically different looks, and it plays well off each other and keeps guys uncomfortable. By the time you’re up a third time, you’re facing a back-end reliever.”

Strahm pitched a perfect inning in relief against the Braves two days before his start in San Diego, when he allowed a first-inning homer by Freddie Freeman but only one other hit in 2 1/3 innings of the 3-1 win by the Padres.

Teheran’s 11-4 loss in San Diego gave him a 4-3 record and 4.13 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres.

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Prospect watch: MacKenzie Gore continues comeback from blister issue John Horvath, FOX Sports San Diego

It hasn’t exactly been the smoothest first full professional season for Padres 2017 first-round pick MacKenzie Gore. The left-hander has been placed on the 10-day DL on two separate occasions with a blister on his left middle finger, and he has only appeared in a handful of games for the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

There is good news to be had, though. It appears that Gore’s blister issues may be behind him. Judging by his performance in the two games he has pitched in since his last reinstatement, so far so good.

The 19-year-old’s latest performance came on Saturday against the Great Lakes Loons. Getting the starting nod, Gore fired three shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out five. On a pitch count, the left-hander threw 39 pitches, 28 being strikes.

Gore, the No. 17 prospect in all of baseball per MLB Pipeline, was activated off the DL on June 10. On that date, he threw two hitless innings, striking out three.

“The hand feels 100 percent,” he stated in an interview with MiLB.com after the start. “I was certainly out long enough. It was just nice to be out there and help the team achieve a nice, complete win.”