SAN DIEGO _ Joey Lucchesi helped a tired bullpen, won a game and took a giant step toward being the pitcher he and the San Diego Padres think he can be.
The 26-year-old went seven innings on Monday, and the Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park.
As soon as pinch-hitter Manny Pina was announced as the first batter of the eighth, Andy Green walked the mound to remove Lucchesi. The left-hander left to cheers after allowing just three hits in getting the Padres their first quality start since his last start.
Craig Stammen replaced Lucchesi and pitched a perfect eighth, and Kirby Yates was perfect in the ninth in earning his major league-leading 25th save.
The Padres bullpen was stretched beyond its limits in the just-completed series in Colorado, throwing 25 innings in the four games at Coors Field, which saw a combined 92 runs scored, most in a series of four games or fewer in the modern era.
A tiny bit of mile-high weirdness followed the Padres home.
A hit batter, a double-play-turned-double and a wild pitch gave the Padres their first run Monday.
With one out in the first inning, Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin hit Eric Hosmer in the foot. Manny Machado followed by hitting a hard grounder up the middle that seemed it would end the inning on a double play but caromed off the foot of second base umpire Chris Segal and into right field. Machado stood on second with a double with Hosmer at third.
Chacin then bounced a slider to Hunter Renfroe that got past catcher Yasmani Grandal and rolled to the backstop while Hosmer ran in to score.
Machado didn't need altitude to help his 14th home run of the season travel 414 feet to the party deck just over the wall in right-center field. The blast, his sixth homer at Petco Park, left his bat 109.1 mph.
