Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishSAN DIEGO — For the second consecutive night, Atlanta Braves hitters ran the San Diego Padres starter’s pitch count up early and chased him from the game with a multi-run inning, but wasted multiple scoring opportunities and mustered almost nothing against the Padres’ bullpen.And for the second game to start the season, the Braves starter — Reynaldo López this time — settled in after a shaky beginning to pitch five innings and put the team in position to win, only for the bullpen to give up a crucial home run and take the loss.On Friday, it was Jake Cronenworth lifting the Padres as he opened the eighth homering off Dylan Lee to boost San Diego to a 4-3 win at sold-out Petco Park, dropping the Braves to 0-2 for the first time since they lost the first four in the 2021 season.“We worked some at-bats, but we haven’t had necessarily a timely hit,” first baseman Matt Olson said after the Braves went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position to make them 1-for-16 in that category through two games.The Braves scored three runs against flamethrower Dylan Cease in 4 1/3 innings, including Marcell Ozuna’s two-run, two-out single in the third and Jarred Kelenic’s leadoff homer in the fifth.But they managed just one hit in 4 2/3 innings against four relievers, after getting no runs or hits in the last 5 1/3 innings of their 7-4 loss on Opening Day, when Atlanta relievers Héctor Neris and Aaron Bummer gave up four runs in the seventh inning to blow a 4-3 lead.
Friday nights in the Crone Zone!
Jake Cronenworth gives the Padres the lead in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/UkJZvTGaIi
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2025Still, Braves manager Brian Snitker said, “I’ve loved our offensive approach so far. Everything will even out, we’ll get it going and score runs. I thought (López) did a good job tonight, just kind of battled his way through. I think a lot of times it’s just good to get that first one out of the way.”López gave up a home run to Fernando Tatis Jr. on the first pitch he threw, a pedestrian 92.7 mph fastball that left Tatis’ bat at 110 mph and traveled 410 feet. It was crushed. López said a line drive that caromed off his foot later that inning seemed to get him going. He was throwing 97-98 in later innings and averaged 95.5 mph with his fastball.But he got just three swings-and-misses in 94 pitches, including one on 27 swings at fastballs.“I definitely didn’t have my stuff out there tonight,” said López, who was charged with nine hits, three runs and two walks and had one strikeout in five innings.Sale to go on regular restAfter making just seven starts on regular (four days) rest in 2024, and none before July, Chris Sale will go on regular rest in his second start this season when he faces the Dodgers on Tuesday in the second game of a three-game series at Los Angeles.Sale has said since he joined the Braves that he would pitch whenever they gave him the ball, and he thrived on regular rest in the past, including last season when he won his first Cy Young Award after going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 29 starts. He was 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA in seven starts on regular rest, compared to 8-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 14 starts on five days’ rest and 5-0 with a 2.27 ERA in eight starts on six or more days’ rest.The Braves stuck with their plan last season of being careful with Sale, López and Spencer Schwellenbach. They did so because Sale had pitched only 151 innings over the previous four years due to injuries, Lopez had spent most of the previous three seasons as a reliever, and Schwellenbach was in his first full season as a starter at any level.Snitker said this spring that the Braves wouldn’t have to be as cautious this season.Sale, who turns 36 on Sunday, also won the National League Triple Crown by leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts (225) in 177 2/3 innings. He didn’t miss a start until he was scratched from his final regular-season start due to back spasms, which also sidelined him for the two-game wild-card series when the Braves were swept by the Padres.The Braves and Sale said he would’ve been ready to pitch in a division series. He threw a bullpen without incident the day after they were eliminated, then had his normal offseason throwing program and another impressive spring training this year.Sale threw 84 pitches on Opening Day, giving up a run, two hits and a walk in a 29-pitch first inning, then needed only 55 pitches over the next four innings while allowing one run and four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in that span.If the Braves were not going with Sale on regular rest for the second game at Dodger Stadium, or if they don’t do the same with López for the series finale at L.A., there’s no obvious candidate to take one of those spots. The team doesn’t have a true long reliever/sixth starter in the bullpen and the Braves open the season with seven games in seven days.If they opt not to bring back López on regular rest, the Braves could do a bullpen game, since they’ll have the next day off before their home opener against the Miami Marlins. Not ideal at the end of a seven-game trip, however.The Braves believe they’ll be able to use López on regular rest more frequently than in 2024, when he did it in just five of his 25 total starts. He had a stingy 1.52 ERA in those regular-rest outings, compared to 2.53 on five days’ rest and 1.81 on six or more days’ rest.“Roster permitting and things like that, we’ll continue to give him extra days every chance we get,” Snitker said. “But I think after what he went through last year, I think he feels good about the fact that he’ll probably pitch a little bit more on regular rest than he did last year.”When Spencer Strider returns in mid- to late April from his yearlong rehab for internal-brace elbow surgery, the Braves could move Grant Holmes from fifth starter to long relief, which would give them an option for a sixth starter without having to call someone from the minor leagues.Nick Allen gets a start at SS
Braves shortstop Nick Allen throws over Gavin Sheets as he tries to turn a double play Friday. (Denis Poroy / Imagn Images)Snitker said at spring training that he wouldn’t hesitate to start utility infielder Nick Allen at shortstop, but did anyone think that would happen on the second night of the season?Allen started at shortstop Friday instead of Orlando Arcia. Snitker noted Allen’s success in an admittedly small sample size against Cease and reiterated what he’d said more than once at spring training: Allen is the best defensive backup shortstop the Braves have had in recent years.Allen was 4-for-7 with a double and four RBIs against Cease before striking out and grounding out in two plate appearances Friday. Arcia is 1-for-6 with three strikeouts against Cease.And it should be noted, Arcia has been one of the majors’ worst hitters since the 2023 All-Star break.Asked if this was a sign that Allen could see plenty of playing time, Snitker said, “Yeah, we’ll see how it goes. But he had a little history here with Cease. And I talked to Orlando and told him it’s gonna be, I think, good for him. Because we don’t have to play his legs off. I’ve finally got another shortstop that I trust. And Nick had a really good spring and showed that he’s a legit shortstop. I mean, we haven’t had that here in a while.”Allen had a leadoff single in the seventh inning off reliever Jeremiah Estrada and advanced on a wild pitch, but Kelenic struck out and Allen was stranded at third when Jurickson Profar popped out and Austin Riley flied out.(Top photo of López: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
