San Diego Padres Lose to Milwaukee on Late Braun HR; Lucchesi OK

Despite an encouraging start from Joey Lucchesi and having a late lead, the San Diego Padres lost to the Milwaukee Brewers last night, 8-6.

In his major league debut for the San Diego Padres last night, Joey Lucchesi had some high moments and some low ones. Overall, it was a very encouraging outing for the 24-year-old left-hander. Let’s recap the action.

The first batter Lucchesi faced, Lorenzo Cain, ripped a line drive off of Manuel Margot‘s outstretched glove in center field for a stand-up double. The Padres’ young hurler ended up giving up two runs on three base hits in the first but, aside from a few more hits and another run in the fifth, he was fantastic.

Here’s a shot of him striking out Ryan Braun on some high heat:

The Padres scored three in the second inning on back-to-back home runs from Cory Spangenberg and Austin Hedges. In the fourth, Margot had an RBI single to score Hedges, who walked earlier in the inning to give the Pads a 4-2 lead.

The last run Lucchesi gave up before he was pulled in the fifth was on a sacrifice fly from Braun, scoring Cain, to tie the game at three.

Padres find a way to lose this one

After a Carlos Asauje RBI double in the seventh and an Eric Hosmer RBI double in the eighth, the Friars had a 6-3 lead heading into the ninth.

After Lucchesi was pulled in the fifth, Kaz Makita, Craig Stammen, and Kirby Yates all worked clean innings. Closer, Brad Hand, got the call in the final frame, looking to lock down the Pads’ first win. Unfortunately, things did not work out to plan.

Manny Pina and Jesus Aguilar had back-to-back base hits to lead off the ninth, then Orlando Arcia reached base after a fielding error by Hand.

Jonathan Villar singled to bring home Pina and Aguilar and, just like that, the Padres’ lead was cut to 6-5.

Christian Yelich reached on a fielder’s choice and Arcia was out at home but the very next batter, Ryan Braun, crushed a three-run homer to left field to give the Brewers an 8-6 lead.

Jose Pirela, Carlos Asuaje, and Freddy Galvis struck out in the ninth to end the game.

Next: Lucchesi Impresses in Debut

The Padres send Luis Perdomo to the mound in today’s series finale against Brent Suter at 5:40 PM PDT.