Other » The Atlanta Braves are glad that their four-game series

Thursday night is at home rather than in San Diego.

The Braves swept four games from the Padres in the opening series for new SunTrust Park in April 2017 and have almost nothing but success against the team in Atlanta.

It has been exactly the opposite in San Diego Zach Gentry Jersey , though.

The Padres took two of three from Atlanta in San Diego last week, and the Braves have dropped 16 of their last 19 games in the Padres’ home stadium while being outscored 98-59 over the stretch of futility.

The Braves have lost eight straight series at San Diego dating to 2011, but own an all-time record of 186-122 against the Padres in Atlanta.

The Braves (39-28) went 2-4 on their road trip against the Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, but returned home to sweep a two-game series from the New York Mets and regain sole possession of first place in the National League East.

The Padres (33-37) have won five straight series after taking two of three at St. Louis and own 11 wins in their past 15 games.

Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 2.37 ERA) will start the series opener for the Braves, with fellow right-hander Tyson Ross (5-3, 3.43) going for San Diego.

Sanchez has made three starts since spending six weeks on the disabled list because of a hamstring strain and is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in the past two, allowing just five hits in 12 1/3 innings.

Atlanta has won Sanchez’s last four starts Chris Lindstrom Jersey , with the 34-year-old getting a no-decision in his best outing since signing a minor league contract in spring training after being released by Minnesota.

In that game, Sanchez worked seven innings against Washington on June 3 and allowed just two hits and two unearned runs while walking one and striking out five.

“He’s got a great feel for pitching and knows what he’s doing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I think his stuff is better than what I was led to believe when we signed him. He’s sneaky. He knows what he’s doing. He can change speeds and he locates the fastball well.”

Sanchez has made five career starts against San Diego, losing his only two decisions but posting a 2.76 ERA.

The Padres have won the last six games started by Ross and are 10-3 in his outings this season.

“When it’s your turn to take the ball, you have to believe that you’re the ace,” Ross said. “It’s a rotation of five, but when it’s your turn to go, you have to give the team a chance to win.”

Ross won a combined 23 games for San Diego in 2014 and 2015 http://www.falconscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-kaleb-mcgary-jersey , and was the Padres’ Opening Day starter in 2016. That was his only outing of the season, though, as thoracic outlet surgery forced him to miss the rest of the year as well as the first part of 2017 after he signed as a free agent with Texas.

The 31-year-old California native made 10 starts and two relief appearances for the Rangers last year, going 3-3 with a 7.71 ERA.

Ross has faced the Braves four times, with one appearance in relief, and is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers remain in strong position for a playoff spot at 7-3, but injuries on defense and special teams struggles are concerns for coach Anthony Lynn.Los Angeles lost a defensive starter for the second straight week when Corey Liuget suffered a season-ending knee injury during the second quarter of Sunday’s 23-22 loss to the Denver Broncos. He is the third starter who will be headed to injured reserve, joining linebackers Kyzir White and Denzel Perryman.Liuget missed the first four games for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancers but bolstered the pass rush in the six games he played. Darius Philon Kendall Sheffield Jersey , who started the first seven games and has 2.5 sacks, will move back into the starting spot and rookie Justin Jones will see more snaps.Lynn said he was pleased with how defensive end Joey Bosa played in his first game. Bosa, who missed the first nine games due to a bone bruise to his left foot, played 31 of 56 snaps. The plan going into the game was for Bosa to see 20 plays.“For his first game back I thought he looked good. He had good speed and explosion plus he came out of it healthy,” Lynn said.The Chargers’ struggles on special teams will require more shuffling. They allowed a fake punt for the second straight week, which Lynn said was unacceptable. Kicker Michael Badgley made all three field goal attempts but missed an extra point. Los Angeles has missed six PATs this season. Caleb Sturgis missed five before being released.One possibility to prevent another fake punt is to leave the defense out there with Desmond King as the returner.“We ran punt safe some yesterday. The one time we didn’t we got faked on. There’s some things we’re going to do differently there,” Lynn said.Los Angeles had 14 penalties Sunday, which was the team’s most in Lynn’s two seasons as coach. He said a lot of the penalties early were offensive linemen trying to get a jump on Denver’s pass rush.The Chargers — who had a six-game winning streak snapped by the Broncos — have a two-game lead over Baltimore for the first wild card. They host Arizona on Sunday before a challenging December stretch that includes Pittsburgh http://www.falconscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-john-cominsky-jersey , Cincinnati, Kansas City and the Ravens.“It was a game we could have and should have won. It was definitely a wake-up call for us,” Lynn said.