The Milwaukee Brewers dropped their series opener to the San Diego Padres on Friday night, in a rough 2-0 loss that featured a strong start from Chad Patrick and little offense from the rest of the team.
Patrick started his evening with a 1-2-3 inning, though that was due to a double play off the bat of Manny Machado after Luis Arraez walked. Christian Yelich walked himself in the bottom of the inning, but the Brewers were unable to do anything with the baserunner.
A pair of walks to Sal Frelick and Isaac Collins started the second inning, but Padres’ starter Randy Vásquez got out of the inning unscathed with a flyout and a double play from Caleb Durbin.
San Diego quickly put together some offense in the third, as a trio of singles by Tyler Wade, Martín Maldonado, and Arraez brought in the first run of the evening. Patrick got out of the inning without any further damage as Machado popped out and Jackson Merrill struck out.
The two squads traded some quick innings the next few frames, though the Brewers did get another pair of baserunners from a Frelick single and another Collins walk in the fourth.
While Vásquez didn’t give up any runs, he regularly had traffic on the basepaths, finishing his evening with runners at first and third after a hit by pitch and single in the fifth. He ultimately went just 4 2⁄3 innings, allowing no runs on four walks and two hits on 78 pitches.
The Crew couldn’t capitalize, though, as they stranded baserunners in four of those five frames.
That pattern would continue in the sixth, as Contreras walked to begin the inning and Collins walked for the third time to put runners at first and second with one out. Jeremiah Estrada got out of the jam with a strikeout of Jake Bauers and a flyout by Durbin.
Rob Zastryzny took over for Patrick in the seventh and found himself in some trouble, allowing a one-out single to Brandon Lockridge before a double by Maldonado put runners at second and third. Grant Anderson got the ball with Fernando Tatis Jr. at the plate, escaping the inning with a strikeout and a groundout by Arraez.
In yet another letdown of an inning, the Brewers mounted a two-out rally in the seventh. Jackson Chourio singled, stole second base, and moved up to third on an infield single by Yelich. Both runners wouldn’t move from there, though, as Contreras struck out on three pitches to end the frame.
The Padres tacked on another against Anderson in the eighth, as Machado hit a solo homer to left field to make it 2-0. That was about all she wrote, as Milwaukee went down 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth innings to give San Diego a 2-0 victory.
Overall, it was a disappointing night for the Crew, with Collins’ three walks the highlight offensively. Yelich and Frelick both reached twice via a walk and a hit, while the bottom three spots in the order went a combined 0-for-11, spread across five hitters as Bauers and Joey Ortiz both exited for pinch-hitters late. Milwaukee left 10 runners on base and went a dismal 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, as the only hit was Yelich’s infield single.
Patrick took the loss despite allowing just one run on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts over six frames. Jared Koenig and Aaron Ashby each worked scoreless innings, with Ashby striking out the side in the ninth.
The Brewers will look to return to their winning ways Saturday evening with Jose Quintana on the hill for Milwaukee and Stephen Kolek pitching for San Diego. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on FOX.