MILWAUKEE -- The Padres dropped their eighth road series in 11 tries this weekend, but their young rotation made a believer of Brewers manager Craig Counsell.
"They're young guys with very good arms," Counsell said. "They didn't come in with great stat lines, but they are investing in some talented, young arms and letting them kind of go through their lumps. There's Major League stuff in those arms, that's for sure."
Miguel Diaz, Dinelson Lamet and Luis Perdomo all flashed impressive stuff while combining for 21 strikeouts against the Brewers. After Sunday's 2-1 loss, Padres manager Andy Green saw a glimpse of the future from their starts.
"They all got stuff," Green said. "Dinelson Lamet has like ridiculous stuff. There's not many guys in the game that throw the ball like he does. You've got Diaz out there throwing 98 mph using like half of his body. He's got so much more inside of him as he continues to mature.
"All three of those guys are really good arms. They're not easy guys to face, and all three of them have a substantially higher ceiling than they've already achieved."
Of the trio, the 24-year-old Perdomo has the most Major League experience. He took his fourth losing decision Sunday, but the former Rule 5 draft pick showed his ability to navigate sticky situations with runners aboard. Perdomo held the Brewers scoreless through five innings, despite Milwaukee putting runners in scoring position in four of those innings, including a no-out, bases loaded jam in the second. His first runs allowed came via two solo homers from Hernan Perez and Manny Pina in the sixth.

"I think I did pretty well. I was just trying to be aggressive with my pitches and in those situations get some double-play balls," Perdomo said through a translator. "I think I've developed a ton. From that point on, there's been a bunch of progress, and that's why I'm still here."
"He's come a long way. There's no doubt about it," Green added. "I think those last couple outings, he's shown the ability to do some different things, as well, that we need to see for his development and maturation into a middle-of-the-rotation or top-of-the-rotation guy."

Diaz, who was this year's No. 1 overall pick in the Rule 5 draft, was starting in the Brewers organization for Class A Wisconsin exactly one year before his start Friday. He wasn't fazed facing his former team on the Major League stage. Meanwhile, the rookie right-hander Lamet needed only 75 pitches to strike out a career-high 12 batters in the Padres' lone win of the series Saturday. The outing was a testament to his "ridiculous" stuff, Green said.
"That's the guy we want to see. That guy can be very successful in the big leagues," Green said. "He's thrown the four-seam by people, but the slider was very, very good [on Saturday]. That pitch, that's a separator, and that's a pitch a lot of guys just frankly don't have."

Green and the Padres expressed concern for Lamet's command after he allowed seven earned runs in his previous two starts. But the 24-year-old showed promise for the future Saturday, properly utilizing his slider and earning his first Major League quality start.
His 12 strikeouts matched the highest for any rookie pitcher in the Majors this season, tying Cincinnati's Amir Garrett on April 19, 2017, vs. the Orioles. It also marked the second-highest single-game total for a Padres rookie, behind Oliver Perez's 13 strikeouts in 2002.