SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Interstat) — Chris Sale struck out 11 over six innings and the Atlanta Braves held off a late San Diego Padres rally for a 6-5 victory Thursday afternoon at Truist Park.

Sale allowed five hits and three earned runs while walking one in his 11th win of the season, improving his record to 11-6. The left-hander overpowered San Diego’s lineup, fanning 11 batters and leaving with a 5-3 lead after six innings. Raisel Iglesias earned his 21st save by pitching a scoreless ninth, allowing two hits and striking out two.

The Padres grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the second inning. Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth each singled and moved into scoring position on a hit-by-pitch that loaded the bases. Fernando Tatis Jr. walked to force in a run, and Luis Rengifo followed with a two-run single to right field. Sale then struck out Manny Machado to end the inning.

Atlanta answered in the bottom half when Michael Harris II led off with his 19th home run, a solo shot to right-center that cut the deficit to 3-1.

The Braves seized control in the fourth. Ozzie Albies started the inning with his 16th homer, a solo blast to right-center. After a popout, Harris singled and Mauricio Dubón reached on catcher’s interference. Austin Riley struck out for the second out, but Dominic Smith launched a three-run homer to right field, his seventh of the season, scoring Harris and Dubón to give Atlanta a 5-3 lead. Mike Yastrzemski singled but was stranded.

Atlanta added an insurance run in the seventh when Drake Baldwin hit his 19th homer, a solo shot to right field off Padres reliever Kyle Hart, extending the lead to 6-3.

San Diego mounted a comeback in the eighth. With one out, Machado singled off Braves reliever A.J. Minter. Ty France followed with a two-run homer to left field, his 16th, cutting the margin to 6-5. But Minter retired the next two batters to preserve the lead.

Iglesias worked around a one-out single in the ninth by Cronenworth and a two-out single by Tatis, striking out Rengifo to end the game.

Griffin Canning took the loss, falling to 1-9. Canning allowed four runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out four. He was pulled after Smith’s home run in the fourth.

Yuki Matsui pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for San Diego, allowing one hit and striking out one. Bradgley Rodriguez tossed a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts. Kyle Hart pitched a scoreless seventh but surrendered Baldwin’s homer.

The Padres outhit the Braves 9-9, but Atlanta capitalized on timely hitting. Harris finished 2 for 4 with a homer and an RBI. Albies also had two hits, including a homer and an RBI. Smith drove in three runs on his homer. Baldwin added a solo shot.

For San Diego, France drove in two runs with his homer. Rengifo had two hits and two RBIs. Tatis reached base twice on a walk and a single.

The game lasted 2 hours, 31 minutes and drew an announced crowd of 29,441.

Atlanta improved to 60-42 and won its second game in a row after losing the series opener. The Braves have won three of four against San Diego this week, taking a 7-6 decision Wednesday and losing 8-3 on Tuesday. The Padres fell to 50-53.

San Diego opened the scoring in the second with a three-run outburst but could not hold the lead. The Padres managed only two hits off Sale after the second inning until the eighth.

The Braves continue their homestand Friday against Baltimore. The Padres travel to Miami for a three-game series starting Friday.

The game ended a four-game series between the two clubs. Atlanta took three of four, with the only San Diego win coming Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta Braves 6, San Diego Padres 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 55.90 percent probability to win. The Braves were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over-under line of 8.