Brewers: Jimmy Nelson makes ace case, snaps Crew skid
By Phil Watson
There is an obvious “Help Wanted” sign for the Milwaukee Brewers heading into the 2016 season and right-hander Jimmy Nelson made another bid to earn the role of staff ace with another outstanding performance Tuesday night at Miller Park.
Nelson allowed just three singles and an unearned in 6.2 solid innings as the Brewers stopped a six-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.
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Nelson (9-9) walked one and struck out four in the performance, getting by with stuff he said wasn’t his best.
“I actually felt like [Tuesday] the command wasn’t as good as it has been,” Nelson told MLB.com. “I fell behind a lot of guys, but we had pretty solid defense all around and that helped me out a lot.”
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Nelson hasn’t given up an earned run in his last 20.2 innings.
“I think we have to get past saying it is just a mini run,” manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com. “He’s having a good season. He just continues to take the next step.”
His ERA over his last five starts is a sterling 0.79.
The only run Nelson allowed came in the fourth, when Matt Kemp reached second after third baseman Elian Herrera threw wildly to first base.
Nelson threw a wild pitch that moved Kemp to third and Yonder Alonso scored the run with a fly ball to left field.
The Brewers (45-63) had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Scooter Gennett led off the inning with a double off Padres starter Andrew Cashner (4-11) and went to third on a groundout. Ryan Braun walked and stole second.
Adam Lind grounded to third, with Gennett thrown out at the plate on the dreaded contact play.
But Khris Davis salvaged the inning with a ground-ball single up the middle to score Braun.
Lind, however, was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Melvin Upton, limiting the opportunity to just a single run.
Milwaukee grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the fourth. Shane Peterson led off with a triple and scored one out later on a single by Herrera.
The Brewers scored twice. Braun doubled with one out off right-hander Kevin Quackenbush and Lind stroked a single to left off left-hander Marc Rzepczynski. After right-hander Shawn Kelley entered teh game, Davis hit a sacrifice fly to left field.
Peterson was intentionally walked and Jean Segura made the Padres (52-55) pay with a single to center field, with Lind this time beating the throw from Upton on a play that was upheld after video review.
Jeremy Jeffress got the final out of the seventh and the first out of the eighth, despite allowing three hits. Will Smith struck out the final two batters of the eighth before Francisco Rodriguez came on to convert his 24th save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out one.
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Braun was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and Peterson went 2-for-3 as the Brewers cranked out 11 hits.
Milwaukee will try to win the rubber game of the series Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m., with right-hander Taylor Jungmann (5-3, 2.23 ERA) slated to face right-hander Ian Kennedy (6-9, 4.44).
This will be Jungmann’s first appearance against San Diego. He’s dropped two straight starts, including Friday, when he allowed three runs—two earned—on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Kennedy is 2-3 in eight career starts against the Brewers, posting a 3.71 ERA and 1.235 WHIP in 51 innings, striking out 41. He took a no-decision in his lone start against Milwaukee last season, allowing a run on four hits in six innings at Miller Park on April 22, 2014.
His last start was a no-decision after he allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings with two walks and five strikeouts at Miami on Friday, a game the Padres went on to win 8-3.
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