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Braves close road trip in San Diego

Apr 27, 2011 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - While it is unknown if the Atlanta Braves will be bringing back any souvenirs from their 10-day trip out west, they would like to return with a winning record on the swing.

The Braves try to do just that this afternoon when they conclude their trek with the finale of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Atlanta has split the first two games of this series, taking last night's meeting, 8-2, to improve to 5-4 on its trip through Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. The Braves return home on Friday to host the Cardinals.

Chipper Jones hit a historic two-run homer in Tuesday's win, with the blast moving him into a tie with the legendary Mickey Mantle for second place on baseball's all-time RBI list among switch hitters with 1,509 RBI.

"We grew up hearing about Mickey Mantle and now we're witnessing Chipper Jones getting those milestones," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez told Atlanta's website. "It really does give me goose bumps every time one of those milestones is reached."

David Ross hit his first two homers of the season and had four RBI for the Braves, who rebounded from a 5-3 loss in 13 innings on Monday to win for the fourth time in five games.

Starter Jair Jurrjens surely appreciated the support, but didn't need most of hit. He hurled his first career complete game, yielding two runs while throwing 81 of his 114 pitches for strikes.

Aaron Harang served up all three of Atlanta's homers and suffered his first loss in a San Diego uniform after winning his first four. He lasted six innings.

"It didn't seem like I could locate anything," Harang said on San Diego's website. "It was one of those games, and you're going to have them every once in a while. They're an aggressive team, a fastball-hitting team, and if you can't locate your pitches, they basically showed what's going to happen."

Orlando Hudson hit an RBI triple and Eric Patterson also knocked in a run for the Padres, who fell to 2-7 in their last nine games.

Looking to close out a series win for the Braves today will be right-hander Tommy Hanson, who is coming off his second victory of the season.

Hanson faced the Giants on Friday and gave up just a run on three hits and a walk over seven innings, striking out seven to give him 24 in 28 innings this season. He improved to 2-3 with a 3.21 earned run average in five starts this year.

The 24-year-old is a perfect 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three career starts against the Padres, who hope that Mat Latos can pick up his first victory of the season this afternoon.

Latos has pitched to a 5.94 ERA in losing all three of his starts, giving up 11 runs over 16 2/3 innings but striking out 20 in that span as well. The 23- year-old righty lasted just 4 1/3 innings versus the Phillies on Thursday, getting charged with three runs on four hits and a career-high five walks with seven strikeouts.

"It just looked like he was out of sync," Padres manager Bud Black said of Latos. "He had some good at-bats against certain guys."

Latos has made three career starts against the Braves, going 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA.

Jones is 1-for-9 in his career off Latos.

The Braves won four of six over the Padres a season ago, taking two of three at San Diego.