SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego rookie pitcher provided a ray of sunshine to what has been a disappointing Padres season.

Colin Rea had another solid outing as San Diego defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Monday night.

Rea (2-0), who prevailed in his major league debut on Aug. 11 against the Cincinnati Reds, pitched 5 2/3 innings and was charged with two runs and five hits. He struck out four and walked two. Rea is the seventh Padre in franchise history to win his opening two starts.

"I was pretty excited," Rea said. "I was still nervous, but I was able to focus on the game."

Will Venable had two RBIs and Matt Kemp and Yonder Alonso homered to back Rea.

Craig Kimbrel, the third Padres reliever, pitched the ninth for his 34th save of the season.

Williams Perez (4-4) worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and four hits with four walks. He struck out two in losing his fourth straight start.

"He was in and out of his command a little bit through the course of the game, but he kept us in the ballgame," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He did a nice job."

Rea punched the clock with far less hoopla than in his debut. Against the Reds, he had more than 70 friends and family members on hand.

On Monday, it was just his wife.

"It was nice to just kind of come to the field and worry about pitching tonight," he said.

Padres interim manager Pat Murphy was impressed with Rea's encore.

"I thought he commanded his fastball for the most part," he said. "I was real pleased with what he did. He showed great poise again. You've got to take notice."

The Braves can't hide from their latest skid, dropping 16 of their last 24 games.

Alonso hit a solo shot in the eighth. Venable drove in two of the Padres' three runs in the second. Kemp, with a 10-game hitting streak, smacked his 14th homer of the year in the fifth.

The Braves chased Rea after catcher A. J. Pierzynski's two-out RBI single in the sixth drove in center fielder Cameron Maybin, cutting the Padres' lead to 4-2. Reliever Bud Norris ended the inning by striking out third baseman Adonis Garcia.

Kemp took a Perez fastball over the right-field fence in the fifth to stretch the Padres' lead to 4-1.

"The first time he faced him he threw three sinkers away and got him," Perez said through a translator. "But he is a good hitter and he left one out and he got him."

Atlanta had cut its deficit to 3-1 in the fourth when Maybin, an former Padre, redirected Rea's 91 mph fastball for his career-high 10th home run of the season. Maybin homered in consecutive games and has five hits in five straight games.

"He's playing good baseball," Gonzalez said.

The Braves threatened in the third when shortstop Andrelton Simmons singled and reached second on Perez's sacrifice bunt. But Rea stranded Simmons by getting left fielder Michael Bourn to ground out.

The Padres struck first with a three-run second.

Catcher Derek Norris' infield single drove in left fielder Justin Upton after he led off with a single. Upton advanced to third on first baseman Yonder Alonso's ground-rule double to left center. Venable chased in Alonso and Norris with a single for a 3-0 cushion.

"They stated swinging at the first pitch and the balls started dropping in where nobody was," Perez said.

Rea has gone from being anonymous to the Padres' radar going forward.

"I thought he was better tonight," Murphy said. "I felt like he made pitches tonight. Breaking ball was good; little baby cutter, good; even threw a splitter or two that was good."

NOTES: INF Jedd Gyorko became the fourth Padres player to start at shortstop this season. Gyorko last played that position in college at West Virginia. ... Padres OF Wil Myers (wrist) has increased his swinging regimen and could take batting practice this week. ... 1B Yonder Alonso returned to the Padres' lineup after getting struck in the temple by OF Justin Upton's helmet on Saturday. ... With RHP Peter Moylan's appearance on Sunday, the Braves have used 56 players this season, a franchise high. ... After the Braves finish their seven-game trip, they play 25 of their last 38 games at home.