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Freeman, Braves top Padres

Jul 27, 2014 - 3:19 AM Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Freddie Freeman had three hits and drove in a run as the Atlanta Braves defeated the San Diego Padres, 5-3, in the second installment of a four-game set.

Julio Teheran (10-6) allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out five over six innings for Atlanta, which had dropped five of its last seven games coming in.

"It wasn't the greatest tempo ever," Braves second baseman Tommy La Stella said of the game. "It's important when playing games like that to grind it out and come out on top."

Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth to notch his 31st save of the season.

Odrisamer Despaigne (2-2) surrendered five runs -- two earned -- on six hits and five walks over 3 2/3 frames for the Padres, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Seth Smith went 3-for-3 and scored a run in defeat.

The Padres led 2-1 before the Braves pushed across four runs in the fourth to surge ahead.

Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis worked walks to begin the fourth before Chris Johnson singled home Heyward. Gattis was thrown out at third on the play, while Johnson scampered to second following the throw. Despaigne then committed a throwing error on a force attempt at third on an Andrelton Simmons grounder to put runners on the corners.

Teheran laid down a squeeze bunt to bring home Johnson before B.J. Upton walked and La Stella's bloop single pushed across Simmons. Upton came home on a Freeman single to make it 5-2 in favor of Atlanta.

San Diego got a run back in the fifth.

Chris Nelson whacked a leadoff double, moved to third on a Tim Stauffer bunt and scored on Yangervis Solarte's single to trim the deficit to 5-3.

The Padres put runners on first and second with one away in the seventh, but Anthony Varvaro struck out Yasmani Grandal and got Will Venable to pop out and end the threat.

"We had a couple of innings where we were one hit away from tying the game or even going ahead," Nelson said.

Earlier, Johnson's RBI groundout in the second opened the scoring, which preceded San Diego's two-run fourth.

Back-to-back singles by Solarte and Smith began the fourth and Grandal brought them both home with a double to give the Friars a 2-1 edge.

Game Notes

Atlanta was 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while the Padres finished 2-for-10 ... Alonso was activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game due to right wrist tendinitis.