Struggling Milwaukee Brewers fall to San Diego Padres - Appleton Post Crescent

MILWAUKEE â€" Five games under .500 and 5½ games out of first place, the Milwaukee Brewers aren’t where they expected to be.

“Last year, everything went well. It was a special season,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said after Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, the team with the next-to-worst record in the major leagues. “We’re a little shy this year. We’re not getting the big hit when we need it.”

Ross Ohlendorf (1-0) pitched 41/3 innings of one-run relief for only his second big league win since July 2010. The Brewers went two-for-eight with runners in scoring position, about their season average of .240.

Mike Fiers (1-2), making his third start of the season for Milwaukee, allowed four runs and a career-high 10 hits in six innings.

“Fiers threw too many hittable pitches,” Roenicke said. “They didn’t crush balls but they put the ball in play a lot.”

Fiers acknowledged he needs to learn from his mistakes.

“Four runs in six innings is not a great job. I’ve got to do better,” he said. “They put a lot of good swings on the ball and found holes.”

Given a 2-1 lead, Fiers allowed a tying double to Will Venable in the fifth. The Padres went ahead 4-2 in the sixth when Chase Headley, Yonder Alonso and Cameron Maybin loaded the bases with consecutive one-out singles, and John Baker hit a two-run single up the middle.

“They hit the ball in the right spot today,” Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado said.

Yonder Alonso added an RBI single with two outs in the seventh against Manny Parra after pinch-hitter Chris Denorfia’s double.

San Diego opened with hard-throwing Andrew Cashner, a 25-year-old making his first start of the season and just the second in a major league career that has spanned parts of three seasons. Several of his fastballs were recorded at 100 mph or greater on the Miller Park scoreboard.

“It’s pretty amazing to have a starter throwing that hard,” Maldonado said. “You don’t see 100 mph every day.”

Cashner, who made 27 relief appearances this season, lasted 47 pitches over 21/3 innings. He gave up one run and two hits with five strikeouts, two walks and two wild pitches.

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Black said Cashner will be sent to San Antonio to get more work as a starter.

“He’s going to start at the Double-A club to continue to build off of what he did today,” Black said. “All in all, he threw the ball fine. Today was a building block for future starts.”

Cashner nearly hit Fiers with a high, inside fastball as the Brewers pitcher attempted to bunt.

“That’s the first time facing a guy who threw that hard,” Fiers said. “At least I got the bunt down with two strikes.”

Ohlendorf, signed by the Padres on June 4 after opting out of a minor league deal with the Red Sox, relieved after Norichika Aoki’s groundout leading off the third. he allowed five hits, struck out four and walked two.

Luke Gregerson relieved with two on in the seventh and retired Rickie Weeks on a lineout to center. Huston Street pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his fifth save in five chances.

San Diego, a big league-worst 6-20 on the road, fell behind when Weeks hit an RBI double. Logan Forsythe’s RBI single tied the score in the third, but Martin Maldonado’s run-scoring single gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Notes

Brewers bench coach Jerry Narron served as third base coach Saturday, replacing Ed Sedar, who left the team temporarily after the death of his father. ... Cashner became the 11th pitcher to start a game for the Padres in 2012, the most since 2009 when the club had a franchise-tying record 15 pitchers start a game. ... The Padres and Brewers were the only teams not playing interleague games this weekend. ... Venable returned to the lineup after missing four games with a right oblique strain. ... A game after hitting two home runs, Brewers OF Corey Hart went zero-for-five, striking out three times.