Braves lose in extra innings

"Just one of those nights where I didn't have enough to get it done," said Wagner, who had allowed one run and one blown save in 26 appearances over the past two months. "It's tough to swallow when you know you had this game in hand, and it slips away."

Hundley's game-winning hit came against Kris Medlen (6-2), the seventh pitcher used by the Braves. The scheduled  starter for Saturday at Florida, Medlen gave up two hits and a walk in the 12th inning Wednesday, including a leadoff single by Chris Denorfia.

The West-leading Padres (55-38) evened the series at a game apiece and moved back a half-game ahead of the East-leading Braves for the best record in the National League. The Braves need a win  Thursday to extend a three-month streak of no series losses at home.

They'll send All-Star Tim Hudson (9-5) to the mound against Padres lefty Clayton Richard (7-4) in the series finale.

Brian McCann’s two-run homer in a four-run third inning provided a two-run lead, but it was erased by the Padres’ ninth-inning rally against Wagner, beginning with Scott Hairston's solo homer with one out.

"He just got some balls where they shouldn't have been thrown, I guess," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's been almost perfect all year, stats just off the charts."

Jerry Hairston followed with a single and scored from first on Yorvit Torrealba's one-out double to the right-field corner.

"I tried to throw a fastball up and away and kind of pulled it," Wagner said. "It was up, but middle, to the first Hairston. Torrealba, the pitch he hit was a pretty good pitch. The only pitch I regret was not getting the fastball [in the right location] and giving them some momentum."

Wagner has been baseball’s dominant reliever for the past couple of months, posting a 0.36 ERA and .108 opponents’ average in 26 appearances, with nine hits and one run (a homer) in 25 innings during that stretch.

In his past six games, the 38-year-old left-hander was perfect — no hits, no walks in 5 2/3 innings.

But that run ended abruptly in the ninth, when he blew his fourth save in 26 opportunities. He was asked if his recent near-perfect stretch of pitching made it any easier to accept a blown save.

"No," Wagner said. "This is a big game. You win this game, you win the series and you play for the sweep tomorrow. Now we're in a situation where tomorrow's a bigger game, for both sides. I don't think you can ever brush those games off."

After allowing one run and three hits in two months, he gave up two runs and three hits Wednesday.

"They jumped on his fastball," McCann said. "Looking back on it we probably should have thrown more off-speed pitches, but, you know, Wagner's been lights-out all season long. This is a 162-game season. He's been awesome all season. Stuff happens.

"You play 162 of these, it's going to happen. We need to come back tomorrow and win a game."

Braves starter Tommy Hanson recovered from a ragged first two innings to pitch into the seventh inning, but got no decision to remain stuck on one win (with three losses) in his past six starts.

The Braves were hitless and trailed 2-0 against Padres starter Jon Garland until two outs in the third inning, when they got three consecutive singles from Martin Prado, Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones.

Jones’ hit up the middle drove in two runs to tie, and McCann followed with a two-run homer on a 2-2 pitch. Jones returned to the lineup after missing three starts with a strained left hamstring.

The Braves also welcomed back center fielder Nate McLouth, who had a single in five at-bats after spending six weeks on the disabled list recovering from a concussion.

McCann has six home runs and 17 RBIs in his past 25 games. That doesn't include a three-run double in last week's All-Star game, which enabled the NL to snap a 13-year All-Star winless streak and made McCann the game's MVP.

Against the Padres, he's hit .348 with six homers and 27 RBIs in his past 25 games dating to July 2006.

For Hanson, it looked as if he were headed for another in a series of recent early exits after he gave up five hits and two runs before recording his eighth out. But after Chase Headley’s one-out double in the third, Hanson gave up just one hit for the rest of his 6 1/3-inning stint.

"Tommy got better," Cox said. "I don't know why his slider always picks up after the third or fourth inning."

The young right-hander was charged with two runs, six hits and two walks with five strikeouts, and  Hanson also hit two batters to push his majors-leading total to 13 this season.

"I felt a lot better those later innings than the first couple of innings," he said. "Felt a lot better with my fastball command. After those first couple of innings, everything went pretty good."

McCann said, "It seems like once he finds his release point, he's a different pitcher. Tonight he struck someone out in that sixth inning at 97 [mph]. It was good to see him come out and perform the way he did."

The Padres took the early lead with two runs in the second inning, after Hanson hit Will Venable with a pitch with one out. Venable went to second on a delayed steal and scored on Everth Cabrera’s two-out single.

Garland followed with another single to bring up leadoff man Hairston Jr., whose bloop hit drove in the second run of the inning. Hanson had allowed three consecutive two-out hits, including two by the bottom two hitters in the order.

But he settled down and made it past 5 2/3 innings for the second time in his past six starts.