MILWAUKEE -- Kolten Wong prides himself on being able to separate life off the field from his job on it, but he admittedly did a bad job of that on the Brewers’ last road trip.

Can you blame him? Wong’s thoughts were with wife Alissa, who was due to give birth to the couple’s first child in Milwaukee while Kolten and the Brewers were on the road in Minnesota and San Francisco. Wong had a particularly tough time in San Francisco, where he was 2-for-15 with five strikeouts while calling home at every opportunity.

On Saturday, while Wong was on paternity leave, the couple welcomed a healthy baby boy, Kash Kaha. The middle name honors Wong’s father, Kaha, who has been an especially important part of Kolten’s life since his mother passed away in 2013. Kolten Wong referred to Kaha as the family’s “rock,” and he was thrilled that the new grandfather was able to travel to Milwaukee to be there for the birth.

“I’m just super excited with how life is now, getting my little man home safe. Momma’s safe and healing up,” Wong said. “I can’t be happier with life right now. Like everything in life, you start to understand what’s most important. Baseball, I come out and compete as hard as I can every single day, lead on the field, and when I get home I get to love on my little one. At the end of the day, it put things in perspective for me.

“San Fran, I didn’t have a great series. I kept calling my wife to make sure she was OK, knowing how close we were and knowing how far away we [the Brewers] were. I was doing a terrible job of separating my outside life and baseball life. Now that he’s here, my heart is full.”

There was no easing back into action. The Brewers lost to National League Cy Young Award contender Zack Wheeler on Monday afternoon in Wong’s return to the lineup.

But it was good to be back, Wong said. Alissa’s labor lasted 25-26 hours, and during one stretch Kolten was keeping an eye on the Brewers game via a nearby iPad between contractions. The next day, Kolten jumped up and yelled when Daniel Vogelbach hit a walk-off grand slam for a 6-5 win over the Cardinals, waking the baby and earning admonishment from Alissa.

Chalk it up as the first lesson of fatherhood: Don’t wake the baby.

“Mom was not happy and neither was the baby,” Wong said.

A note to those shopping for a baby gift: Local sports apparel would be appropriate.

“The baby’s a cheesehead,” Wong said with a smile. “He’ll be a Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Bucks fan. You can’t beat it. He’s going to have a good time.”

Last call

• Reliever John Curtiss, who injured his elbow on Aug. 10 less than two weeks after coming to the Brewers in a trade with the Marlins, underwent Tommy John surgery within the past week, president of baseball operations David Stearns said. Curtiss is expected to be sidelined until 2023. Pending changes in this winter’s CBA negotiations, Curtiss will be in his final pre-arbitration season in ’22, followed by more years of club control in arbitration.

•  Stearns said another injured reliever, Justin Topa, is still weighing his next steps after suffering an elbow injury on Friday. And John Axford, who injured his right elbow last month in his return to the Brewers, opted for Tommy John surgery, Stearns said. That would leave open the possibility for Axford of extending his career.

•  Avisaíl García returned to the lineup on Tuesday after being limited to pinch-hitting duties since Thursday, when he left a game at San Francisco with a tight back and hamstrings. Manager Craig Counsell said, “It's good to get a guy back in the lineup who's been one of our regular players this year. I think a strength of this team is how we've been able to survive things like that. Maybe not survive, but like kind of thrive more with things like that going on. I think the guys have done a good job but frankly, getting Jace Peterson a day off is probably for me the best part of getting Avi back because he deserves a day off right now.”