San Diego — Charlie Morton was 2 years old when Greg Maddux debuted in the major leagues in 1986, and 8 when Maddux won the first of his four consecutive Cy Young Awards in 1992.

Morton was a 24-year-old rookie in his sixth major-league start when he outpitched the esteemed "Mad Dog" on Saturday night during the Braves' direly needed 4-1 victory against the San Diego Padres.

AP (ENLARGE)

Braves' Mark Teixeira is greeted at the plate by Chipper Jones after they scored on a two-RBI single hit by Jeff Francoeur in the sixth.

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Before a sellout crowd at Petco Park, Morton (2-2) limited the Padres to four hits and one run in 5-1/3 innings for his second win, with a couple of big assists from Jeff Francoeur and reliever Will Ohman.

Francoeur drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the sixth inning that broke a tie and sent the Braves to just their fourth win in 13 games and their second in their past seven road games.

"I was walking to the bullpen, and I saw him walking from the bullpen," Morton said of his counterpart. "I said, 'That's Greg Maddux.' It was kind of cool."

Chipper Jones went 3-for-4, rookie Brent Lillibridge had a double and his first career home run, and Francoeur had two hits as the Braves evened the series at a game apiece.

"It feels good," said Francoeur, who had been 2-for-20 with bases loaded before his broken-bat single through the left side of the infield against Maddux, moments after nearly clearing the bases with a line drive that was barely foul.

"I know how I've struggled with the bases loaded, so to be able to come up and get a nice knock was nice. It's a lot more fun when you do stuff like that."

They pulled back to 6-1/2 games behind National League East leader Philadelphia after the Phillies lost at home against Arizona.

They will go for .500 on the road trip when they play the Padres Sunday in the last game before the All-Star break. They lost two of three against the Los Angeles Dodgers to begin the trip.

Morton left with two runners on base in the sixth inning, and Ohman retired the next two batters on groundouts, part of another solid performance from the veteran left-hander who has been the Braves' most reliable reliever all season.

Ohman has allowed no earned runs in 19 of his past 20 appearances and given up two hits in 7-1/3 scoreless innings over his past eight appearances.

"I felt like I did a good job," said Morton, who had three walks and four strikeouts and threw 99 pitches. "At the same time, it's hard to be satisfied when you only pitch five-plus [innings].

"But it's good to keep the team in the game; that's the most important thing. I know we're a few games back, and every game's big."

Maddux (3-8) had another solid outing with no run support, which has been the story of the legendary former Braves pitcher's season.

He gave up six hits and three runs in seven innings and remained winless (0-5) in his past 12 starts, one shy of matching his longest career winless streak (13 with the 1990 Cubs).

Maddux has a 2.51 ERA in 11 home starts — and a 1-3 record to show for the effort. The Padres have scored two or fewer runs while he has pitched in seven of his 11 home starts.

The 42-year-old right-hander is 1-3 in five starts against the Braves since leaving Atlanta as a free agent after the 2003 season. Maddux became the oldest pitcher to steal a base in a major-league game when he swiped second base in the third inning after reaching on an infield hit.

Morton had a 12.38 ERA and .410 opponents' average in his past two starts before getting back on track against the Padres, who had lost 10 of 11 home games before they beat the Braves in Friday's series opener.

Blaine Boyer had three strikeouts in two hitless relief innings and Mike Gonzalez threw a perfect ninth to record his third save of the season and convert his 33rd consecutive save opportunity dating to Aug. 16, 2004, the longest active streak in the majors.