Cease Turns in Gem, Guiding Padres to 4-0 Win, Stopping 5-Game Skid

The Padres broke a five-game losing streak Saturday as Dylan Cease pitched six innings of one-hit ball in a 4-0 win over the Braves.

David Peralta, playing for the injured Fernando Tatis Jr., had two RBIs while he and Manny Machado each had three hits. Machado also hit his 13th home run of the season.

The Friars opened up the scoring in the second inning on a two-out, ground-rule double to left by Peralta that scored Donovan Solano, who had grounded into a force out, but then stole second.

The Padres added single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth while Cease mostly dominated the Braves.

He found himself in a spot of trouble in the fourth, when, up 1-0, he walked Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna, then threw a wild pitch to put them on second and third with two out.

But then he struck out Eddie Rosario to end the threat, and in his final inning of work in the sixth he struck out the side, including Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and Olson. He had 11 K’s on the day.

Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon each gave up a hit in one inning of work. Robert Suarez pitched the ninth and gave up two hits with two outs, before retiring Sean Murphy on a grounder to Ha-Seong Kim.

The win evened Cease’s record at 8-8. “I’ve faced him before, and that’s probably the best that I’ve seen him,” Brave Adam Duvall told MLB.com.

Cease, pumped as he left the gave, waved at the packed house of 43,097 at Petco Park. “I think I finally got some things to sync up,” he told MLB.com.

The Padres play their final game before the All-Star Break Sunday. Randy Vásquez will take the mound for the 1:10 p.m. start; the Friar All-Star contingent will head to Texas following the game.