Bryce Elder looked much more like the pitcher Atlanta had early in the season on Monday night, and the Braves needed every bit of it.
Elder gave the club a much-needed lift in a 3-2 win over the Padres at Truist Park, working six-plus innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits. It was his strongest outing in more than a month, and it came at a time when Atlanta had been searching for steadier starts from its rotation. The Braves had gotten a starter to go at least six innings only five times over their previous 33 games.
The support around Elder was just enough. Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies each hit home runs, and those swings helped Atlanta hang on for only its second win in its last 13 games against San Diego, a stretch that goes back to the 2024 Wild Card Series.
Elder’s night was mostly clean until the power shots from the Padres. Manny Machado connected for a solo homer in the fourth, and Ty France opened the seventh with another. Those were the only runs charged to Elder, who had been fighting through a rough run of form entering the game.
Over his previous seven starts, he carried an 8.47 ERA. Over his last four, that number had ballooned to 11.00. Monday’s performance was his most satisfying since he held the Pirates to two runs over six innings on June 7.
That June outing had capped a strong stretch for Elder, who posted a 2.71 ERA across a 21-start run dating back to Aug. 24, 2025. During that span, he owned the ninth-best ERA in MLB.
His lone real stumble in that stretch came on May 27, when the Red Sox hit him for nine singles and six runs over 3 2/3 innings. Even then, Elder had entered that start with the fourth-best ERA in baseball, sitting at 2.30 through 18 starts. Only Cam Schlitter (1.90), Cristopher Sánchez (1.99) and Chris Sale (2.20) were ahead of him.
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