.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Will Venable hit his first career homer and the San Diego Padres beat Milwaukee 5-2 on Thursday night, handing the slumping Brewers their fourth straight loss.
Nick Hundley and Luis Rodriguez each drove in two runs for San Diego, which had lost nine straight on the road and is tied with Washington and Seattle for the fewest wins in the majors.
With all of the NL’s playoff hopefuls taking the day off, maybe Milwaukee should have, too. The Brewers’ wild-card lead was trimmed to four games over Philadelphia, and they fell five games behind NL Central-leading Chicago with 22 games left.
Fresh off being swept by the New York Mets, Milwaukee fell to 0-4 on a 10-game homestand, but this loss was much more troubling.
The Padres, mired in last in the NL West, took advantage of every opportunity Jeff Suppan (10-8) and Milwaukee gave them.
San Diego eliminated Milwaukee from postseason contention in its visit last year before the Brewers won the final two of the season to force the Padres into a one-game playoff with Colorado for the wild card that the Rockies won.
In this four-game series, only San Diego can play spoiler, but the Brewers’ problems were self-inflicted Thursday. Milwaukee stranded nine runners after leaving 26 on in the series against the Mets.
Shawn Estes (2-1), making his first start since May after being sidelined with a broken left thumb, allowed one run and seven hits over six innings for San Diego. Trevor Hoffman allowed a leadoff single to Jason Kendall in the ninth before finishing for his 28th save.
Suppan, who had won his last five decisions and posted a 3.00 ERA since July 1, struggled against the youthful Padres.
Venable, who was called up from Triple-A Portland last Friday, went deep in the sixth in his sixth big league game. Suppan was chased minutes later after loading the bases on a single to Hundley, an error and an intentional walk. Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly off Guillermo Mota gave San Diego a 5-1 lead.
Hundley had a sacrifice fly in the second and a two-out RBI double in the fourth. Rodriguez’s fifth-inning single drove in Brian Giles, who slid in just around Kendall’s tag at the plate.
J.J. Hardy hit his 22nd homer off Mike Adams in the seventh, cutting the lead to 5-2.
Milwaukee had its chances, stranding two runners in the first, two in the second, one in the third, three in the fourth after loading the bases with one out and one in the ninth.
.
Advertisement
