The Jake Cronenworth Game gives San Diego Padres exactly what they needed

Needing a spark, the San Diego Padres got just that from Jake Cronenworth on Saturday.

Cronenworth launched a pair of home runs to give him the first two-homer game of his career as the Padres smacked their way to a 10-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. The win lifted the Padres back to the .500 mark (8-8) and instantly established the contest as The Jake Cronenworth Game moving forward.

Coming back into the lineup after a day off and wanting to shrug off a slow start to the campaign, slashing .196/.321/.326 in his first 57 plate appearances of the season, Cronenworth's two-homer, six-RBI game easily boosted his season totals of one and two, respectively, in those departments.

After signing a seven-year, $80 million extension at the start of the season, Padres fans have been waiting to see Cronenworth establish himself again in 2023. On Saturday, that's exactly what happened.

Jake Cronenworth boosts San Diego Padres in a number of ways in victory over Milwaukee Brewers

It wasn't just the long ball where Cronenworth did his damage against the Brewers. He had a first-inning RBI single and also joined Nelson Cruz in drawing a bases-loaded walk in the eighth, victimizing former Padres reliever Javy Guerra, who issued three walks while recording just one out.

Cronenworth and Cruz doing damage was a good sign for the Padres, highlighting a pair of players at opposite ends of the early-season spectrum at the plate.

The question now becomes is this the start of a hot streak for Cronenworth or an outlier. A 3-for-4 day against Arizona on April 4 was followed by 3-for-14 stretch, so all eyes will be on him as the Brewers series winds down on Sunday and the Atlanta Braves come to Petco for a three-game series starting on Monday.