Atlanta Braves vs San Diego Padres Picks and Predictions July 21st 2026

Mired in ‘rough’ stretch, Padres’ Walker Buehler seeks to bounce back vs. Braves

Two pitchers with a lot to prove will face off on Tuesday night when the Atlanta Braves host the San Diego Padres in the second contest of a four-game series.

The Braves won the series opener 3-2 on Monday for their first victory in four tries against the Padres this season.

San Diego will send Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.36 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday to face Atlanta’s Reynaldo Lopez (4-2, 3.50) in a matchup of veteran right-handers. Each is trying to hold on to a position in the rotation.

Buehler will try to bounce back from three poor performances before the All-Star break.

In his last outing on July 11 against Toronto, he pitched two innings and allowed four runs on three hits and four walks in San Diego’s 8-7 victory. Buehler is 0-2 with a 16.36 ERA in his last three trips to the mound, having allowed 20 runs and six homers in 11 innings.

“The same miss over and over, left and high,” Buehler said after his last start. “I think the All-Star break is coming at a good time for me. So try not to put too much stock into it. … Obviously, the past two or past three have been really rough, so good time to take kind of a step back and see what we’re doing.”

Padres manager Craig Stammen said he was optimistic that having a few days off at the break would help Buehler, 31, get his season back on track.

“He’s not a spring chicken,” Stammen said. “He’s got a lot of innings under his belt. … You can definitely see you know he’s not as sharp as he was back in June. We’ll get him right and get him back to that pitcher that we saw that was very effective for us.”

Buehler has made six career appearances (all starts) against the Braves, going 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA. He faced them one time in 2025 while with Boston and took a loss, allowing five runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Lopez is one of many possible pieces for Atlanta’s ever-changing rotation. He began the season as a starter but spent June in the bullpen. Since returning to the rotation, he is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA.

In his last start on July 11 against St. Louis, Lopez worked five innings and allowed four runs in a 4-1 loss. It was his third consecutive five-inning start.

In four career appearances (three starts) against the Padres, Lopez is 0-1 with a 3.93 ERA.

The Braves need their starters to go five-plus innings to preserve their relievers. Bryce Elder did that on Monday, when he worked six innings. And the overtaxed bullpen, with regular standouts Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee and closer Raisel Iglesias all unavailable, received 2 1/3 innings from Victor Mederos, who earned his first career save.

Mederos was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels on April 3.

“He’s thrown the ball well for us, but that’s a different animal what he did in a one-run game,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “You see that with players sometimes. It might be a different voice or a different piece of advice, and it clicks with a guy and he takes off. It’s looking like that’s the case with Vic.”

–Field Level Media