Atlanta @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 10, 2013 ) Atlanta 6, San Diego 7

The Atlanta Braves are sitting pretty atop the National League East but are just a .500 team on the road. The Braves will be looking to improve that record and even the three-game series when they visit the San Diego Padres again on Tuesday. Atlanta leads the NL in home runs but could not pull out a win in Monday’s opener despite a trio of blasts.

The Padres have won four of their last six games thanks to a surging offense. San Diego, which is averaging 6.5 runs in that span, welcomed Logan Forsythe for the first time this season on Monday. The second baseman missed the first two months of the season with plantar fasciitis but went 2-for-2 with a home run and a walk in his return.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, Sports South (Atlanta), Fox Sports San Diego

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Tim Hudson (4-5, 4.48 ERA) vs. Padres RH Andrew Cashner (4-3, 3.68)

Hudson has gone six straight starts without winning but has certainly been good enough of late. The veteran right-hander has allowed a total of one earned run on seven hits in 14 1/3 innings over his last two turns but has been given two runs of support. Hudson has never lost to San Diego, piling up a 6-0 record with a 2.70 ERA in 12 games (11 starts).

Cashner has gone two starts in a row without a win but posted a quality start last time out, allowing three runs and seven hits in seven innings at Colorado. The 26-year-old did not surrender a home run in that outing, snapping a four-start stretch with a least one blast allowed. Cashner, who has never started against the Braves, is 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA at home this year.

WALK-OFFS

1. Padres RHP Huston Street (calf) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Class A Lake Elsinore on Wednesday.

2. Braves RF Jason Heyward is batting .411 with three home runs in the last eight games.

3. Atlanta C Evan Gattis hit his fourth pinch-hit home run on Monday.

PREDICTION: Braves 3, Padres 2