Painter (1-1) allowed three runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batsman while striking out four over four-plus innings, taking the loss Sunday versus Atlanta.
Painter fell short of the five-inning mark for the second time in four appearances this season. The 23-year-old right-hander limited the damage to a Michael Harris solo shot through four innings, but he put traffic on the bases in the fifth, and Tim Mayza allowed both inherited runners to score. That ended up being enough to stick Painter with his first big-league loss. He's pitched to a 4.42 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 20:4 K:BB across 18.1 innings. Zack Wheeler (shoulder) is close to making his season debut, and it's not yet clear if that will cost Painter his rotation spot, though Taijuan Walker's struggles could lead to him being the odd man out. Should Painter stay in the rotation, he is tentatively lined up for a rematch on the road in Atlanta.