SAN DIEGO _ They made it exciting near the end, but opening day 2018 ended like so many Padres games in so many recent years.
The offense had virtually nothing going for eight innings, tied the game with two outs in the ninth, wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the 11th and lost in 12 innings.
The Milwaukee Brewers spoiled another opening day for manager Andy Green by ruining the major league debut of reliever Adam Cimber with a run on back-to-back two-out hits in the top of the 12th, leaving with a 2-1 victory.
Before the ninth, the Padres had just eight baserunners, just three of them reaching on hits. (They would finish with six hits and 15 strikeouts.)
It seemed 2017 had never stopped.
Then, down to their last out, the Padres finally gave the announced sellout crowd of 44,649 something to really cheer.
Carlos Asuaje singled with one out. After standing on first through one at-bat, he was replaced by Matt Szczur with two outs. On the first pitch to Freddy Galvis, Szczur took off for second and beat the throw.
Two pitches later, Galvis slapped a 2-0 single through the right side, and Szczur scored uncontested.
For much of the afternoon, it was clear the regular season had begun, as the Padres flashed a new kind of leather but went down meekly with, at least for one game, the same old lumber.
Baseball's most anemic offense a year ago showed signs of a new approach at the plate during spring training. In the first game that counted, however, they could for eight innings make nothing of three hits and eight total baserunners.
Brewers right-hander Chase Anderson foiled the Padres over six innings before three Brewers relievers worked an inning each to get through a threat in the seventh, the top of the Padres order in the eighth and get to the precipice of victory before Galvis' heroics.
Before the offense sparked, the defense and the pitcher who relies on it made sure the game didn't get away from the home team.
Clayton Richard threw a mostly brilliant seven innings in his first career opening day start in a major league career that began a decade ago,
Richard spun the very definition of scattering hits _ six of them.
He did so, as he often does, by getting out of the first two innings with on double play grounders. The 34-year-old left-hander in 2017 induced 32 of those, third-most in the majors.
The difference on these two were that they were started with stellar plays on scorched ground balls by two new infielders. Third baseman Chase Headley backhanded a ball to start the double play that ended the first, and Galvis started the second-inning double play by stopping a smash right at him and back-handing a toss to second baseman Carlos Asuaje.
Richard almost took the tough loss due to his one rough stretch, in the third, when he allowed a two-out single to Chase Anderson, the opposing pitcher. Singles by new Brewers Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich followed, the latter scoring Anderson.
Richard then set down 10 straight batters leading up to a two-out double in the sixth. He finished by getting the final four batters he faced.
Richard's day was done after 82 pitches when Hunter Renfroe batted for him in the bottom of the seventh.
It was the big at-bat that Green told Renfroe he might have when the former starting right fielder was informed he wouldn't be in to start Opening Day.
Renfroe came to bat with two outs and two on, Carlos Asuaje having walked and Freddy Galvis laying a bunt single down the third base line. It was the first time all day the Padres had a runner at second base.
Renfroe watched a third strike go by.
Manuel Margot led off the eighth with a single, was erased on a fielder's choice, and then Eric Hosmer hit into a double play.
Hosmer walked with one out in the 11th, reaching base for the first time as a Padre. He went to third on Jose Pirela's single to right field. With Pirela having taken second on the right fielder's bobble, pinch-hitter Raffy Lopez was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Headley followed with a grounder to third on a drawn-in infield. The throw went home and then to first for an inning-ending double play.
Cimber came on to start the 12th, allowed a single and got a double play grounder before Jonathan Villar's double and Manny Pina's RBI single.
Galvis, Austin Hedges and Cory Spangenberg went down in order _ all on strikeouts _ to end the game.
