SAN DIEGO -- Corbin Burnes is the National League's reigning Cy Young Award winner, and he pitched like it in the Brewers' 4-1 victory over the Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park.

No shame in that. If you’re the Padres, there are worse ways to see a five-game winning streak snapped. And here's the thing: They’ve lost games like this one already this season. Almost every time, they've bounced right back. San Diego has lost consecutive games only twice this year and not since April 15-16 against Atlanta.

“I mean, you look at the guys we’ve got on the mound for us, and the defense we’ve got behind them, it’s like we’ve got a chance to win every night,” Padres catcher Austin Nola said. “You know you’ve got a good pitcher going, you’ve got a good defense. It’s like, ‘All right, let’s get back out there and play.’”

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The Padres rode quite a roller coaster last year, of course. Their highs were high. Their lows were low. Their streaks -- both winning and losing -- built serious momentum within themselves. That was never more true than during their September free fall. 

This year, the Padres have preached a far more even-keel approach. And so far, they’re living it. So they lost to a Cy Young winner? It happens. You move on and try to win a series.

In the meantime, the Padres had a former Cy Young Award winner of their own on the mound on Tuesday night. And despite a couple late blemishes, Blake Snell showed flashes of his dominant self.

Snell pitched four scoreless innings before allowing a solo homer to former teammate Mike Brosseau in the fifth. An inning later, Snell put two men aboard and had reached 104 pitches when manager Bob Melvin emerged from the dugout to dive into his somewhat weary bullpen. Right-hander Craig Stammen’s first batter was Tyrone Taylor, who launched a go-ahead three-run homer that proved decisive.

Snell finished with a tough-luck pitching line of three runs over 5 1/3 innings. He was, quite clearly, better than those numbers indicate. Snell struck out seven and allowed only three hits. His slider and changeup were both sharp, and his fastball command was markedly better than it was last week during his season debut in Philadelphia.

“Fastball command, I think that’s what allowed everything to play the way it did,” Snell said. “But it’s tough. Losing is zero fun.”

Snell, of course, missed the first month and a half of the season with a groin injury. Melvin has already made it quite clear that he’s willing to give his starters more leash than most. Eventually, Snell will fall into that category, too.

“I thought he was fantastic, and this just kind of sets him up for the next time, where I don’t think there’s any limitations on him at all,” Melvin said.

Music to Snell’s ears.

“I love it,” said Snell, who has had quite a few restrictions placed on his workload over the past couple seasons. “You get to see what type of pitcher you truly are. You get to see what kind of dog is inside of you. That’s very exciting. I want to pitch, and I want to pitch deep into games.”

Slumping Grisham
Once Milwaukee jumped out in front, the Padres didn't have many opportunities to climb back into it. Their best chance came in the seventh. Luke Voit and Ha-Seong Kim opened the frame with consecutive singles, setting the stage for Trent Grisham as the tying run with nobody out.

It has been an ugly start to the season offensively for Grisham, and it got worse on Tuesday against his former team. After striking out in his first two at-bats, the center fielder bounced into a double play, essentially ending the threat. 

Grisham has been valuable defensively, and he has brought meaningful contributions in the bunt game and the running game. But when he struck out in the ninth to end the game, his average dipped to .152 through 160 plate appearances.

“He’s trying to find his way out of it,” Melvin said. “He’ll have some games like yesterday where he gets a bunt down, hits a double. He just had a tough time following it up today. A lot of times, it just takes a few good games in a row to feel really confident about what you’re doing.”