The Milwaukee Brewers proved that good pitching plans don't always translate against hot teams, as the San Diego Padres dropped the series opener 6-4 at American Family Field on Tuesday night.
San Diego (24-17) entered the game hoping to replicate the same strategy that worked against the Giants six days earlier. The plan: have reliever Bradgley Rodriguez (0-2, 1.74 ERA) start and pitch just the first inning, then hand the ball to right-hander Matt Waldron (1-2, 9.28 ERA) to handle the bulk of the game.
It was a solid idea against a struggling San Francisco lineup, but the Brewers (23-16) are anything but struggling. Milwaukee came into the game riding high after sweeping the Yankees, winners of five straight and eight of their last ten.
Early on, the Padres' strategy looked promising. Rodriguez set down the Brewers in order in the first, and Waldron followed with a clean second inning. But baseball has a way of punishing predictable scripts.
Waldron got the first two outs of the third inning quickly, working ahead of shortstop Joey Ortiz 1-2. One strike away from escaping the frame, Waldron left a sweeper over the middle of the plate, and Ortiz crushed it for a solo home run to put Milwaukee on the board first. The Brewers weren't done.
After giving up a single to Brice Turang, Waldron found himself in serious trouble. William Contreras doubled, Jake Bauers worked an eight-pitch walk, and Garrett Mitchell lined a single to load the bases. Then came the dagger: Sal Frelick ripped a two-run single to left field, giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
The inning got uglier from there. A miscommunication between Waldron and third baseman Manny Machado on a slow roller allowed David Hamilton to reach on a bunt single, reloading the bases. Ortiz added his second RBI of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center, and Turang—one of the hottest hitters in the National League, slashing .306/.427/.949—crushed a two-run double down the third-base line to make it 6-2.
That was the end of Waldron's night, as manager Mike Shildt turned to reliever Wandy Peralta to finally stop the bleeding. But the damage was done—a six-run third inning that no team, especially one on the road, can easily overcome.
The Padres showed some fight late, but the early deficit proved too steep. For San Diego, the takeaway is clear: what works against a struggling team doesn't always hold up against a confident, red-hot Brewers club.