Padres 2, Brewers 1: Playoff push hits a pot hole as San Diego's Dinelson Lamet whiffs 14 batters

Tom Haudricourt
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Brewers manager Craig Counsell argues a call with umpire Jerry Meals during the seventh inning Wednesday night.

The San Diego Padres are having another disappointing season but they have some good arms in their starting rotation, as the Milwaukee Brewers can attest. 

One night after having their hands full with Chris Paddack before emerging with a 3-1 victory, the Brewers were dominated for six innings by Dinelson Lamet. The hard-throwing righty, who missed most of 2018 after Tommy John surgery, struck out a career-high 14 batters out of the 18 outs he recorded before departing.

The result was a 2-1 loss for the Brewers, one of the few setbacks they've had this month in their playoff push. In seeing their four-game winning streak snapped and losing for only the second time in 13 games, the Brewers fell three games behind St. Louis in the NL Central race.

The loss did hurt the Brewers in the playoff chase as they remained tied with the Chicago Cubs, who lost 3-2 to the Cincinnati Reds in 10 innings, for the second wild-card spot. 

When Greg Garcia led off the San Diego third with a base hit, Brewers starter Adrian Houser made an attempt at the liner up the middle and appeared to pull or strain something in his upper body. He was checked by an athletic trainer and shook it off and remained in the game. 

BOX SCORE:Padres 2, Brewers 1

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Houser got ahead of the next batter, Seth Mejias-Brean, but the Padres shortstop sent an 0-2 fastball the other way to right-center, and it bounded off the top of the wall and over for his first homer in the majors.

Lamet tried to lend the Brewers a helping hand in the bottom of the inning by walking Houser and Trent Grisham with one out, then uncorking a wild pitch as they moved to second and third. But Yasmani Grandal went down swinging and Mike Moustakas took a called third strike as Lamet began to accumulate Ks in rapid order.

Houser exited after five innings, having allowed only three hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Unfortunately, one of those hits was the two-run homer by Mejias-Brean, giving the Padres all of the runs they would need.

As Lamet continued to pile up the strikeouts, recording at least two in every inning, the 2-0 score held up until the bottom of the sixth. Finally, with one down, Keston Hiura got hold of one and drove it the other way and way out to right-center for his 17th home run of the season.

Lamet would strike out the other three hitters that inning before exiting after one of the most impressive performances against the Brewers this season. He allowed three hits and three walks but more than atoned for it with his 14 strikeouts.

Trey Wingenter took over for Lamet and walked Cory Spangenberg to open the Brewers seventh. Orlando Arcia bunted him to second, and Spangenberg moved to third when pinch-hitter Lorenzo Cain grounded out to second.

Trent Grisham struck out on a low breaking ball and the ball got away from catcher Francisco Mejia, whose low throw to first got away from Eric Hosmer. Spangenberg appeared to score the tying run from third but the Padres appealed to the umpires that Grisham accidentally kicked the ball away from Mejia, and he was called out for interference after a discussion.

The Brewers put a runner on second with two down in the ninth but Padres closer Kirby Yates struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Braun to end the game.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ironman stretch to end: Grandal started his 13th consecutive game behind the plate, a streak that began out of necessity when backup Manny Piña was sidelined with a concussion. But Piña has recovered and manager Craig Counsell said he would start the series finale against the Padres on Thursday afternoon. Asked if Grandal would get the day off or play first base, Counsell smiled and would only say, “Yas is not catching tomorrow.”

Grandal hits century mark: Grandal drew his 100th walk of the season in the first inning, making him only the second player in franchise history to reach that plateau. Prince Fielder did it three times – 2010 (114), 2009 (110) and 2011 (107). Grandal was only the second NL player to draw 100 walks this season, trailing Philadelphia’s Rhys Hoskins (110).

Spangenberg gets an outfield start: With banged-up outfielders Lorenzo Cain (knee) and Ryan Braun (lower back) getting a scheduled day of rest, the starting outfield had a new look – Ben Gamel in right, Grisham in center and Spangenberg in left. It was the first start in the outfield for Spangenberg, a utility player who saw considerable action there for Class AAA San Antonio. “When he came up, I probably thought we’d see this a little more,” Counsell said. “He played 25 games there for Rick Sweet in San Antonio. I know he hasn’t done it for a couple of weeks but he’s spent a lot of time out there.” Counsell said it made sense to give Cain and Braun, two right-handed hitters, this game off with lefties coming up in the next two games.

Going back-to-back: Hiura played in the field for the second straight game after returning from a hamstring strain that sidelined him for more than two weeks. “Defensively is probably where the test is going to come,” Counsell said. “I think he can put the ‘governor’ on a little bit, running the bases.

Anderson nominated for Clemente Award: Right-hander Chase Anderson was nominated by the Brewers for the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a player who demonstrates character, on and off the field, good sportsmanship, philanthropy and community involvement. Anderson contributes financially every year to the Brewers Community Foundation to help end childhood hunger. He and wife Anna also have gone on mission trips to the Philippines and partnered with the Strike Out Poverty Campaign. Anderson has been involved in many other children’s initiatives and also has supported Habitat for Humanity.

RECORD

This year: 82-70

Last year: 86-66

ATTENDANCE

Wednesday: 38,235

This year: 2,762,047 (35,871 avg.)

Last year: 2,685,298 (34,874 avg.)

COMING UP

Thursday: Padres at Brewers, 3:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jordan Lyles (11-8, 4.25) vs. San Diego LHP Joey Lucchesi (10-8, 4.22). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.