On a prolific home run night by the Brewers, starter Jhoulys Chacin made sure they counted

Brett Kennedy never knew what hit him.

Making his major-league debut Wednesday night for the San Diego Padres, Kennedy was mauled for five runs in the first inning by the Brewers, including consecutive home runs by Jesús Aguilar, Travis Shaw and Eric Thames, each one farther than the one before.

“I actually feel kind of bad for him,” Brewer starter Jhoulys Chacín said. “In my MLB debut, that would be the worst thing I would want to happen to me.”

Unlike the night before, when Brewers starter Chase Anderson was unable to protect a 4-0 lead after one inning, Chacín made sure the five-run outburst would not slip away and lead to an ugly loss. He kept the Padres off the board until the fifth inning and though the visitors made some late noise, the Brewers held on for an 8-4 victory that evened the series at a game apiece.

Chacín has been the Brewers’ most consistent pitcher this season and that trend continued with another quality start as he limited San Diego to six hits and three runs over six innings to boost his record to 11-4.

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It was a nice bounce back for Chacín from his worst start of the season in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers tagged him for nine runs (eight earned) in 4 1/3 innings en route to a 21-5 pasting of the Brewers. He even helped himself in the field, snagging a liner from Franmil Reyes to double off a runner at first and limit the damage that inning to one run.

“We got the early lead and then he put up a bunch of zeroes,” manager Craig Counsell said. “That takes some wind out of the sails of the opponent, obviously. Then we tacked on a couple more runs as well. It keeps momentum on your side.

“He pitched a good game. It’s kind of what we’ve seen from Jhoulys all year. His slider was very good. He fielded his position well – that line drive he caught to get a double play was a nice little play to get out of that inning. A solid job again.”

After Anderson pitched two scoreless innings the previous night, he melted down in the third and fourth and the Brewers’ bullpen never could stop the bleeding. San Diego scored in each of the last seven innings, finishing with nine unanswered runs to pull away to an 11-5 victory.

But Chacín kept the pesky Padres off the board long enough for his bullpen to cover the final three innings with only one run of damage.

“I feel like they’re a good hitting team,” Chacín said. “They always take good at-bats. I was focused on getting some quick outs. When the offense is that hot, you want them to come back in to hit real quick.”

Chacín’s offensive teammates certainly appreciated their early work holding up. Aguilar, who has emerged from a three-week skid and is smacking home runs again, touched off the opening salvo by taking a 3-2 slider on the outside corner the other way for a three-run homer, using brute strength to stun Kennedy, who did not lose a game all year in Triple-A.

“The bottom line is that ‘Aggie’ hit a pitch out that not many guys can hit out,” Counsell said. “He threw him a good pitch. ‘Aggie’ fouled off a couple of pitches first, then he threw him a very good pitch. ‘Aggie’ hit it out of the park. It’s probably the last thing you’re expecting. That puts anybody on his heels.”

As for jumping on Kennedy right out of the gate, Aguilar said, “We’re trying to be aggressive and go after him right away. He surprised us because he was throwing a little harder than the reports showed.

“We do have a pretty good lineup, one through eight. I think the league is starting to notice. All the way through the lineup, everybody can hit it out.”

On this night, that also included shortstop Orlando Arcia, whose offensive struggles resulted in two separate demotions to the minors and was a big reason the Brewers traded for Mike Moustakas and Jonathan Schoop to provide more infield options. After collecting singles in his first two at-bats, Arcia drove a pitch from reliever Phil Hughes out to center in the fifth for his first home run since April.

“We’re very happy for him,” Aguilar said. “It looks like his confidence is back and he’s back to the old Orlando.”

Christian Yelich hit the loudest homer of all in the sixth, a monstrous drive off the bottom of the scoreboard in center. Even with the club record-tying five homers from five hitters, much of the credit went to Chacín for making them count this time around.

“Yesterday, no one wants to happen, but it happens sometimes,” Aguilar said. “Chacín came out there and put some zeroes up early on. He was aggressive and got us through six to help us get even more runs on the board.”

Now, the Brewers will try to win the series Thursday by doing something that has proven quite difficult this year – winning a day game. They are 17-28 under natural light, a trend that needs to stop.