SAN DIEGO — Atlanta Braves pitcher JR Ritchie was in position to have the bounce-back performance he desperately needed. Instead, Tuesday evening turned into another tough lesson.Entering the second inning with a four-run lead against the San Diego Padres, the young starter’s command troubles began to surface. He issued back-to-back walks with one out before surrendering a single to Rodolfo Durán. As Xander Bogaerts crossed home plate, Ritchie ran behind the plate at Petco Park and covered his face with his glove in frustration.More disappointment followed. He gave up three more consecutive hits, allowing five runs in the inning and wiping away his teammates’ offensive eruption. The Braves went on to lose 7-6 in 10 innings, their 10th defeat in 18 June games. Since establishing a 10 1/2-game cushion in the NL East on May 22, the Braves have gone 12-14 and watched their lead over the Philadelphia Phillies (43-36) shrink to 5 1/2 games.“I know I didn’t take the loss tonight, but I take responsibility for that one,” Ritchie said. “It’s tough. Whenever we put up six runs, we should win a ball game. I just got to be better moving forward.”It was the third consecutive start in which Ritchie, the Braves’ preseason No. 2 prospect in Keith Law’s rankings for The Athletic, gave up at least four runs and did not reach the sixth inning. Ritchie has a 5.40 ERA since taking over for fellow righty Spencer Strider after he exited his May 12 start with right elbow inflammation.