MILWAUKEE — The Padres made a lot of noise during a perfect homestand.
On the road Monday night, their nine-game winning streak was halted with a relative whimper.
The Padres did go down with reason to be cheering from the dugout at the end. But the only real sounds made at American Family Field were two loud home runs off Blake Snell, Tommy Pham’s too-late homer and Brandon Woodruff slamming the door on the Padres’ offense.
Unable to solve their second look at one of the National League’s top starting pitchers, the team with the major leagues’ best record lost 5-3 to the Brewers. (Box score.)
The only team to sweep the Padres (30-18) this year drove Snell from the game after 3 2/3 innings.
The Brewers (24-23) entered the game with the National League’s lowest team batting average and scoring the NL’s third-fewest runs per game. Their five runs Monday were more than they had scored in all but two of their previous 12 games.
The Padres, who batted .285 with a .384 on-base percentage and averaged 7.1 runs in winning 12 of their previous 13 games, managed five hits. Two of them came in the first inning and two came in the ninth.
Pham’s two-run homer in the ninth kept the Padres from going scoreless for just the third time this season. When Brewers reliever Angel Perdomo hit the next batter, Jake Cronenworth, it forced the Brewers to go to closer Josh Hader. The hard-throwing left-hander struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. before Eric Hosmer drove in Cronenworth with a double. Wil Myers walked to bring Austin Nola to the plate as the tying run.
Two pitches later, the game was over. Nola popped out and Ha-seong Kim lined out to left field.
The last time the Padres were shut out was in a game started by Corbin Burnes, who will start Tuesday’s game here. He allowed the Padres four hits in six innings on April 20 at Petco Park and has a 1.79 ERA.
Woodruff, who allowed the Padres one run and one hit in six innings on April 19 in the first game of the Brewers’ three-game sweep in San Diego, struck out eight, allowed the three hits and didn’t walk anyone Monday.
It was Woodruff’s ninth straight quality start. And this time, he got some support.
The Padres were down 2-0 in the second inning after Manny Piña drilled a fastball in the heart of the zone 426 feet to left field.
The Padres trailed a total of 17 innings during their winning streak. They had not trailed against a pitcher of Woodruff’s caliber.
“It’s a hell of a test,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said before the game. “Woodruff isn’t talked about enough. It’s almost like he’s the quietest, sneakiest, best pitcher nobody talks about.”
Woodruff (3-2) entered the game with the National League’s lowest ERA (1.53) and some of its worst luck.
He had allowed three runs in 22 innings over his previous three starts and gone 0-2 with a no-decision.
The Brewers were shut out in both the losses. They averaged 1.1 runs while he was in his first nine starts and had never scored more than two runs while he was in any of those games.
So a 2-0 lead in the second inning was daunting enough for the Padres.
Then Snell, who six days earlier went six innings for the first time in 2021, fell back into a season-long habit of falling behind hitters.
Avisail Garcia led off the fourth inning with a 456-foot homer to left-center field before Snell loaded the bases on a single and two walks.
The left-hander got Luis Urias on a foul pop-up and struck out Woodruff before Kolten Wong grounded a 2-2 slider through the right side to bring in two more runs.
That was it for Snell, who didn’t make it through five innings for the fifth time in 10 starts. He did strike out seven en route to throwing 81 pitches.
