Nelson's complete game gives Brewers rare Father's Day victory

The Milwaukee Brewers made it a "parental sweep" on Sunday afternoon at Miller Park.

Riding Jimmy Nelson's first career complete game and solo sixth-inning home runs from Hernán Pérez and Manny Piña, they outlasted the San Diego Padres, 2-1, to register a rare Father's Day victory.

It marked just the 19th time the Brewers won on Father's Day in 51 tries, which is the worst mark in major-league baseball.

Compare that to their dominance on Mother's Day, where they ran their major-league-leading winning percentage to .627 after beating the New York Mets on May 14 at Miller Park.

Nelson (5-3) needed 118 pitches to finish his nine innings in this one, and he turned in the best performance of his career in the process.

He allowed six hits, one unearned run and two walks while striking out 10. It was Milwaukee's first complete game since July 11, 2015, when Taylor Jungmann threw one in a 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

BOX SCORE:Brewers 2, Padres 1

RELATED:Nelson gives Brewers' bullpen needed breather

NOTES:Shaw's first Father's Day provides hope

MLB: Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, schedules

The early innings were frustrating for Milwaukee's offense.

They loaded the bases in the second when Manny Piña, Keon Broxton and Lewis Brinson opened with singles off Luis Perdomo. But Orlando Arcia chopped into a 1-2-3 double play, then Nelson struck out to quickly end the threat.

Eric Sogard led off the Brewers' third with a double to right and moved to second on an Eric Thames walk. Hernán Pérez struck out, and Sogard was doubled off second after Travis Shaw's drive to deep center was run down by Franchy Cordero.

Nelson got through the first four innings without much issue, then his throwing error on Cory Spangenberg's leadoff infield single in the fifth set up the Padres' first run. With Spangenberg on second, Erick Aybar followed with a single to center to make it 1-0.

Milwaukee followed by getting two more on with one out after Nelson reached on a swinging bunt and Sogard walked, but Thames grounded into a 6-3 double play to end that budding threat.

Finally, the Brewers cashed in against Perdomo with – what else – a pair of homers in the seventh. Pérez led off with a solo shot to left, then two batters later Piña sent one out to left-center to put Milwaukee ahead for the first time at 2-1.

Piña's shot also set a club record, with the Brewers having scored each of their last 15 runs at that point via the long ball. They now have 103 through 71 games.

"This is an example of a game where we should have scored more runs, frankly," said manager Craig Counsell, whose team won its second straight series. "We left some opportunities out there that we needed to cash in on. But the home runs were big.

"That's how we're scoring right now."

Interestingly, it was Piña's eighth-inning, three-run homer that helped lift the Brewers to a crazy, come-from-behind 11-9 victory over the Mets on Mother's Day.

"My dad (Omar) told me, 'Don't forget I'm your daddy! Hit one today, too!' " Piña said with a laugh. "I didn't try to hit a homer, man, but that happens when you get good contact and see the ball well."

"It's a special moment, man. Hitting one on Mother's Day, hitting one on Father's Day. I'm never going to forget this year.

"It's great."

Nelson stranded a pair in the seventh and then got an inning-ending 4-6-3 double-play ball from Yangervis Solarte in the eighth to erase a Wil Myers single. 

Nelson came out to a big ovation in the ninth, and got Hunter Renfroe looking for the first out. After Spangenberg lined out to first, Aybar struck out swinging, earning a big fist pump from Nelson and another huge cheer from the crowd.

It was the Brewers' first complete game at Miller Park since Kyle Lohse threw one on June 1, 2014 in a 9-0 shutout of the Chicago Cubs.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

* Only two pitches had been thrown before there was a replay challenge, with the Brewers arguing first-base umpire Ramon De Jesus' safe call on an Allen Córdoba bunt.

The call wound up being overturned in 2 minutes.

Then after Spangenberg led off the seventh with an infield single, Counsell unsuccessfully challenged De Jesus' safe call in a review that lasted 2 minutes 30 seconds.

* Pitching prospect Taylor Williams returned to action on Sunday, making a start for Class AA Biloxi after having not pitched since May 25. The right-hander threw 27 pitches in one inning, allowing two hits and a walk.

"He continues to come back from Tommy John surgery, and he has really put up some nice numbers to this point," farm director Tom Flanagan said. "We will continue to build him up and monitor his workload closely along the way."

STAT SHEET

* Sogard has a six-game hitting streak, and has reached base in 24 of 31 games this season. He also recorded his 11th multi-hit game on Sunday with a single and double.

* Only one other player in Brewers history had homered on both Mother's and Father's Day in a season coming into Sunday – Ben Oglivie, who did it both in 1978 and '82.

TAKEAWAY

Complete games have been a rarity for the Brewers in recent seasons, but Nelson dug deep to register the first of his career. It was the type of performance the team has been waiting for from the right-hander since he first reached the major leagues in 2013.

RECORD

This year: 38-33 (19-20 home; 19-13 away)

Last year: 31-40

ATTENDANCE

Sunday: 34,518

2017 total: 1,114,892 (28,587 avg.)

Last year: 1,086,466 (27,858 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Monday: Brewers vs. Pirates, 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Matt Garza (3-2, 4.17) vs. Pittsburgh RHP Gerrit Cole (4-6, 4.54). TV: FS Wisconsin. TV: Radio: 620-AM.