Aguilar, Moose homers not enough in loss to SD

MILWAUKEE -- Jesús Aguilar and Mike Moustakas flexed their first-inning muscles for a quick four-run lead and Chase Anderson retired the first six Padres batters of the game. It was shaping into a good night for the Brewers.
Then, just like that, it wasn't.
Anderson unraveled, beginning with a 30-pitch third inning, and relievers Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, Jacob Barnes and Dan Jennings all had trouble of their own as the Padres scored in each of the final seven innings of the Brewers' 11-5 loss on Tuesday at Miller Park.
As well as the game began for the Brewers, it ended just as ugly. Anderson allowed two home runs, giving him a National League-worst 23 this season. Aguilar was picked off second base to end the fifth. Eric Thames didn't hustle down the line on a disputed check-swing strikeout to end the sixth. Hader hung a slider for the Padres' go-ahead hit in the seventh. Jonathan Schoop got a hit, but committed two errors for two unearned runs. In Schoop's first six games with the Brewers, he has four errors and three singles.

It was the Brewers' fourth loss in six games, after winning five of their previous six. The Cubs beat the Royals on Tuesday and lead the National League Central by 2 1/2 games.
"Obviously, that's a game you wish you could win," said Hader, who took his first loss since Sept. 4, 2017. "We wish we could win every game, if possible. We just have to learn from what we did and move on."
All three of San Diego's starting outfielders -- Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes -- hit home runs and combined for 10 RBIs. Margot drove in five runs from the leadoff spot. Reyes drove in three runs on three hits, including a go-ahead two-run double off Hader with two outs in the seventh. Renfroe's two-run homer off Barnes in the eighth padded the lead.

It was quite an answer to the Brewers' first-inning offense against Padres starter Clayton Richard. Aguilar smashed his team-leading 27th home run, and Moustakas followed three batters later with another two-run shot for a 4-0 advantage.
Aguilar is seeking a second wind after falling into a hitting slump amid his winning campaign for the Camping World MLB All-Star Final Vote in the National League. In his previous 19 games before Tuesday's series opener against San Diego, Aguilar was hitting .131 (8-for-61) with two home runs. Now, he's homered in two of his last five games.
It was Moustakas' 22nd home run of the season and his second since the Brewers acquired his power bat in a trade with the Royals before the non-waiver Trade Deadline.
Moustakas added a sacrifice fly in the third, but the Padres had started their comeback against Anderson, who allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

"You've got to put up a zero, and we weren't able to put up any zeros tonight." Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "I think the big inning was with Josh [in the seventh] -- you put up a zero there and maybe we can change things around. But after that, we made some mistakes and they took advantage of it, both pitching and defensively."
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Brewers nearly escape: A slick defensive play put Hader and the Brewers on the brink of escaping the decisive seventh with the game tied at 5. Successive singles to start the inning gave the Padres runners at the corners, but Hader induced an Austin Hedges popout, then got help when Aguilar charged hard from first base on Freddy Galvis' squeeze bunt and flipped the ball home to catcher Manny Piña for the out.

The Brewers' celebration was short-lived. Reyes followed with his go-ahead double on a slider that Hader said didn't get down enough in the zone.
"That's the play," Counsell said. "They got first and third, nobody out, not looking good, then we get a popup and 'Agui' makes a great play on the bunt, and then you've got a shot to get out of it."
"Obviously, it flipped around," Hader said.

SOUND SMART
Anderson snapped a streak of eight straight starts with two or fewer earned runs allowed. It was the longest such stretch by a Brewers starter with no relief appearances in-between since Jeff D'Amico went nine in a row in July-August 2000.
THAMES OUT ON ODD PLAY
The sixth inning ended oddly. With Matt Strahm pitching for the Padres and Hernán Pérez on first, Thames thought he checked his swing on a two-out, two-strike slider in the dirt that bounced away from catcher Hedges. Perez ran for second and Hedges was searching for the ball while home-plate umpire Nick Mahrley appealed down to third-base umpire Bill Miller, who said Thames swung. That gave Strahm time to help his catcher by retrieving the ball and throwing to first for the inning-ending out.
"That's a tough play for Eric. He's trying to figure out what's going on," Counsell said. "I didn't think he swung, first of all. I thought there was no chance that was a swing. I've got no problem with how that play happened."
HE SAID IT
"This pitcher is one of the best in the big leagues right now. I was just waiting for one pitch to do damage. I got it. I took advantage of it." -- Reyes, on capitalizing against Hader
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Moustakas had three RBIs when he stepped to the plate with Aguilar on second in the fifth. On a 1-2 count, Aguilar drifted too far off second and drew a pickoff throw from Richard to shortstop Galvis. The initial call was safe, but that was overturned after the Padres challenged, and the inning was over.

UP NEXT
Jhoulys Chacín's last start didn't go well. The Brewers set a franchise record for runs allowed in a 21-5 loss at Dodger Stadium last week, with Chacin allowing nine runs (eight earned). He'll aim for a bounce-back outing against his former team, the Padres, who send right-hander Brett Kennedy to the mound for his Major League debut in the 7:10 p.m. CT game.