Cobb Reporter

SAN DIEGO -- Power and veteran savvy have been two defining traits of Travis d'Arnaud’s long big league career. In the Braves’ final game before the All-Star break, he showcased both in memorable fashion.

d’Arnaud hit two home runs and picked up a rare stolen base to lift the Braves to a 6-3 victory over the Padres on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park. The Braves enter the break with a 53-42 record, holding the National League’s top Wild Card position.

“I think we've done a good job of just grinding this thing out and staying relevant,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I like where we are.”

d’Arnaud used his experience to give the Braves the lead and his power to secure their victory. With the score tied at 1-1 in the fifth inning, d’Arnaud worked a leadoff walk against Padres starter Randy Vásquez. With d’Arnaud on first, Vásquez threw his next pitch to Eddie Rosario out of the windup, allowing d’Arnaud to steal second base without a throw.

It was just the third stolen base of d’Arnaud’s 12-year career and his first since 2020.

“After watching the replay, maybe they still could have gotten me. That's how slow I am,” d’Arnaud said with a chuckle. “But I'll take it.”

When he stood up from his slide, he emulated teammate Ronald Acuña Jr.’s motorcycle revving celebration to the delight of his teammates.

“I felt fast, and I did the Ronnie move,” d’Arnaud said. “… It was fun. I still can't believe it happened.”

The steal proved crucial as Rosario followed with a grounder that advanced d’Arnaud to third base instead of resulting in a double play had he remained on first. Adam Duvall then hit a line drive into left field to score d’Arnaud with what became the go-ahead run.

“That's an IQ play,” said Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale, who pitched five innings for the win. “That's just knowing the game and understanding where you're at and what's going on and just paying attention. That's big-time.”

d’Arnaud continued making an impact as he hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning off Padres reliever Stephen Kolek, extending Atlanta's lead to 5-1.

After San Diego rallied back within striking distance, cutting their deficit to 5-3 in part due to Luis Campusano's pinch-hit two-run homer off A.J. Minter in the seventh inning, d'Arnaud struck again with another home run in the eighth inning off Jeremiah Estrada.

“The last couple of weeks, I had an issue of drifting, and it caused my lower half to collapse,” d’Arnaud said about recent adjustments he's made at bat.

Sale allowed four hits and one run while walking two batters and striking out four for his Major League-leading 13th win this season—making him only the sixth Braves pitcher ever to reach such numbers before an All-Star break since John Smoltz did so in 1996.

Luis Campusano's homer brought Manny Machado up as potential tying-run later but Joe Jiménez managed ending that threat by getting Machado lined-out toward left-field soon after which followed by another homerun scored by D'Arnauld thereby putting end any momentum remaining among Padre's side thus securing much-needed winning note right before All-star breaks started thereafter eventually concluding matchday proceedings successfully!