Kyle Lohse Kicks the Rust Off as Brewers Pound Padres

Aug 25, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Khris Davis (18) is congratulated after scoring on a single by catcher Martin Maldonado (not pictured) during the third inning as center fielder Carlos Gomez (27) mimics Maldonado

It took a few innings on Monday night in San Diego for Kyle Lohse to kick the dust off after skipping his last start with an ankle injury, but after he settled down he mowed through the Padres in a 10-1 Brewers win.

Lohse (11-7, 3.49 ERA) was taking on Eric Stults of the Padres. Stults had given up just four earned runs in his previous four starts in games against Atlanta, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Los Angeles.

The Brewers offense wasn’t fooled by Stults though, as they had base runners in every inning and every starter except Jonathan Lucroy had a base hit in the game.

Carlos Gomez led off the game with a single on a full count, two pitches into Jonathan Lucroy’s at bat he stole second base. Lucroy flew out for the first out of the inning before Braun singled on a high chopper to third.

Aramis Ramirez followed with an RBI single to left to bring in Gomez and move Braun over to second base. Khris Davis and Rickie Weeks grounded out to end the inning with just one run scored.

Lohse had to knock the dust off, and walked the lead off hitter, Yangervis Solarte on four pitches. Solarte was retired at second on a Will Venable fielder’s choice ground out to first. Lohse walked Seth Smith to put two on.

Aug 25, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Eric Stults (53) reacts after giving up a home run during the third inning to Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun (not pictured) at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Lohse picked off Venable at second base. Venable wandered too far off the base, and Lohse fired to second. Jean Segura tagged Venable running to third on the play, and held Smith at first base. Yasmani Grandal flew out too deep center to end the inning.

Solarte robbed Martin Maldonado of a lead off single in the second with a diving catch on a line drive over second base. Segura singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lohse but he was left stranded after Gomez flew out to end the inning.

Cameron Maybin knocked a one-out single to center in the bottom half of the second. He came around to score, and tie the game, on an RBI triple by Alexi Amarista. Lohse walked Chris Nelson to put a second runner on base; it was his third walk of the game in just the second inning.

Stults bunted up the first base line and Lohse fielded and fired to the plate to get the out on Amarista, leaving runners on first and second with two outs. The crew chief went to replay to see if Maldonado was blocking the plate on the play.

The review took several minutes, but the call on the field stood, and Amarista was out. Solarte hit a single between first and second. Weeks fielded it but Lucroy ranged to far to go after it so Weeks had nobody to throw too, and the bases were loaded on the infield single. Lohse struck out Venable to end the inning.

Braun launched a one-out home run (17) in the top of the third to give Milwaukee the lead, 2-1. Two batters later, Khris Davis walked to extend the inning with two outs, and he stole second base after being picked off.

Stults made a bad pickoff throw to first and Davis was going on first move. Weeks followed with a walk to put two on for Maldonado who singled two left to bring in Davis and move Weeks to third. Segura flew out to end the inning with Milwaukee on top 3-1.

Lohse came back strong in the bottom half of the inning and got his first three-up, three-down inning of the game.

Stults allowed just a Gomez single in the top of the fourth for the Milwaukee hitters in an inning that included Solarte robbing another Brewer of a hit, this time it was Lucroy. Lohse worked through a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the fourth to keep Milwaukee on top 3-1.

Ramirez homered (14) on the first pitch of the fifth inning to make it 4-1 Brewers. Two batters later Weeks doubled down the line in left. Stults struck out Maldonado and Lohse around a Segura intentional walk to get out of the inning.

Tommy Medica came on to pinch hit for Stults in the bottom of the fifth and promptly struck out. Stults went five innings and allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks. He struck out just two Brewers.

Lohse worked another three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the fifth on just nine pitches. He retired 10 Padres in a row at that point after kicking the rust off in the first two innings.

Blaine Boyer came on to pitch for the Padres in the sixth inning. He got Gomez to ground out but walked Lucroy on four pitches before a Braun single to center to put two on for Ramirez.

Ramirez made Boyer pay for the walk with a ground-rule double down the line in left to bring in Lucroy and put Braun at third with Milwaukee up 5-1. Davis followed with a double to left to bring in Braun and move Ramirez to third.

Weeks followed with a line drive to right; Venable caught it but it was deep enough to bring in Ramirez and make it 7-1. Maldonado struck out to end the inning.

Lohse returned to the mound for the sixth inning. Smith led off with a single up the middle. Grandal followed with a walk to put two on for the Padres. Lohse came back and struck out Jake Goebbert for the first out. Lohse struck out Cameron Maybin for the second out and Maldonado picked off Smith at second base to end the inning.

Boyer returned to the hill for the seventh inning for the Padres. After a Segura line out, Lyle Overbay came on to hit for Lohse, ending his night. Overbay singled to left to keep the pressure on Boyer. Gomez singled to put two on for Lucroy, who was the only Brewers regular without a hit at that point.

Lucroy walked to load the bases, and Gerardo Parra came on to pinch-hit for Braun. Parra grounded to first, Goebbert went to first for the out and Overbay came in to score.

That was it for Boyer as the Padres sent Alex Torres to face Ramirez, who already had three hits in the game. But Torres had the upper hand in the at bat and struck Ramirez out to end the inning.

Zach Duke came on to pitch for the Brewers in the seventh. Mark Reynolds came on to play third for Ramirez, Parra came in for Braun, and Overbay stayed in for Lucroy at first.

Lohse threw six innings and allowed just one run on four hits while walking four and striking out five. Duke worked a perfect seventh inning for Milwaukee.

After retiring Ramirez to end the top of the seventh, Torres returned to the hill for the eighth. He put the Brewers down in order in the inning.

Will Smith came on to toss the eighth for Milwaukee. Solarte led off the inning with a single to left. After a Venable fly out, Abraham Almonte singled to left to put two on. Grandal belted a fly ball to center field, but Gomez ran it down for the second out. Rene Rivera flew out to Parra to end the inning.

Torres stayed on the hill for the ninth inning for the Padres. Segura led off the inning with a walk. After an Overbay strike out, Elian Herrera doubled down the line in right while pinch hitting for Gomez.

Reynolds popped out in foul territory for the second out of the inning. Parra knocked a single to right-center to bring in Segura and Herrera and make it 10-1 Brewers. That was it for Torres as Bud Black called for Tim Stauffer. Stauffer got Scooter Gennett to fly out to center to end the inning.

Brandon Kintzler came on to pitch the ninth for Milwaukee. After getting a quick out he gave up back-to-back singles. But Rymer Liriano grounded into a game-ending double play.

The 10 runs were the most the Brewers had scored since their last game before the All-Star break, July 13. Lohse got the win for Milwaukee; it was his 12th of the season. Stults took the loss for the Padres.

The series will continue tomorrow night when rookie Jimmy Nelson (2-4, 4.15 ERA) takes on Tyson Ross (11-12, 2.68 ERA).