Michael Wacha and Eric Lauer squared off in a Friday night game in front of the Friar Faithful.

In his career, Michael Wacha had a 6-0 record with a 3.38 ERA against the Brewers before Friday night’s game. He would be looking to keep his hot streak going and tie up the series. The crafty left-hander Eric Lauer would be looking to bounce back for the Brewers. He had a 7.71 ERA in his first two starts, allowing seven hits and seven runs in nine total innings pitched.

The Padres this year have been a tale of two teams. The Padres who can blow the socks off of any team, and the Padres who can lose due to bad pitching and a lackluster offense. They haven’t been able to hit with runners in scoring position, and it has caused their offense to stall at times. “We’ve had games where it’s been good; we have just not been consistent enough with those games to where we get a good feeling like we can get on a run yet,” Bob Melvin said after the game.

On the other hand, Milwaukee has started off red hot on offense, scoring 7+ runs in five of their 13 games. Their strong pitching has also aided them in their 9-5 record. Which version of the Padres would we see against this hot Brewers squad?

Michael Wacha would come out in the first inning and allow four runs on five hits. He would allow one more run in the next inning and then settle down for the third and fourth. Meanwhile, Lauer retired his first eight batters in order until ninth-hole hitter Jose Azocar put the Padres in the hit column in the bottom of the third.

Luis Campusano put the Friars on the board in the 5th inning with his first home run of the season. The Padres would still trail 7-1. Michael Wacha got through four and a third innings, allowing seven runs and a career-high eight extra-base hits. He would also walk one and only strike out three on the night.

San Diego pitchers would allow four hits for four runs in the last four innings. Rougned Odor would come off the bench and hit a ball that would bring Jose Azocar home for the only other run of the game for the Padres.

The Padres would strand seven runners on base. Four of those runners would be in scoring position where the Padres hit 1-for-10 with runners on second or third. Rowdy Tellez would hit two home runs and four RBIs and lead the way in this one for the Brewers. Eric Lauer bounced back as well, only allowing one run in five innings of work and striking out five. 

Fernando Tatis Jr. is returning next week and should add some much-needed explosiveness to the offense. Tatis will also add consistency. The Padres host the Brewers for the third game of the series, where they look to get the bats going against right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta.

Spencer Defils

Spencer DeFils is a sports broadcasting major at Austin Peay State University. He likes watching, playing, and writing about sports, especially the Padres. He loves his wife and son and hopes to make a career out of writing about and broadcasting sports.