ATLANTA (Interstat) — The Atlanta Braves engineered a come-from-behind victory Monday night at Truist Park, defeating the San Diego Padres 3-2 in a crisp 2-hour, 20-minute contest before a crowd of 31,263.

The win lifted the Braves to 58-41 on the season, while the Padres fell to 49-51.

Right-hander Bryce Elder earned the win, working six innings and allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out four. He improved to 6-6. Victor Mederos notched his first save of the season with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one. Padres starter JP Sears took the loss, pitching five innings and surrendering three hits and one earned run with three strikeouts, dropping to 2-3.

The game’s pivotal sequence came in the fifth inning, after San Diego had taken a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Manny Machado in the top of the fourth. Machado finished 2-for-4 with his 20th homer of the year.

Atlanta tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when center fielder Michael Harris II led off the inning with his 18th homer, a fly ball to right field. The Braves then took the lead when San Diego catcher Freddy Fermin was charged with catcher’s interference on a pitch to Mauricio Dubón, allowing Dubón to reach first. Joey Bart followed with a ground-rule double to left field that scored Dubón, giving Atlanta a 2-1 edge. Bart advanced to third on a groundout but was stranded there when Eli White struck out.

The Braves extended their lead in the sixth inning. After Drake Baldwin struck out, second baseman Ozzie Albies crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his 15th homer, making it 3-1. Albies went 2-for-4 on the night.

San Diego trimmed the deficit in the seventh. First baseman Ty France led off with his 15th homer, a solo shot to left-center field, cutting the margin to 3-2. France finished 2-for-4 with the homer and an RBI. The Padres then put a runner on second with one out via a Luis Rengifo single, but Elder and relief pitcher Victor Mederos worked out of the jam. Rengifo singled again in the ninth inning, but Mederos induced a lineout and a force out to end the game and secure the save.

The Padres had taken the initial lead in the fourth inning. Machado led off with a drive to center field for a solo homer. France followed with a single, but the inning ended on a force out.

San Diego’s offense managed seven hits but struck out seven times and left eight runners on base. Atlanta collected only four hits, but two of them left the yard.

Atlanta’s bullpen was effective after Elder departed. Mederos worked the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, allowing only the one hit and a walk while striking out one. Earlier, San Diego relievers Bradgley Rodriguez and Kyle Hart each tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts apiece. Padres reliever Wandy Peralta allowed one run on one hit in the eighth inning.

The Braves got a strong defensive play from third baseman Austin Riley, who started a force out in the fourth inning and later made a groundout assist. Shortstop Jim Jarvis was involved in two double plays.

San Diego threatened again in the top of the ninth when Rengifo singled with one out, but Mederos got Xander Bogaerts to line out to center and then forced Jake Cronenworth to ground into a force out to end the contest.

The game marked the first of a four-game series between the two clubs, who last met in late June when San Diego swept a three-game set in California. The Braves had won 7 of their past 10 games entering Monday, while the Padres had dropped 2 of their previous 3.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 5-4 victory for San Diego, but the Braves defied that forecast. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 56.40 percent probability to win before the game. The Braves were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs. The total of five runs scored went over the over/under line of nine.