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Garland pitches Padres to 3rd shutout in 4 games

May 3, 2010 - 12:43 AM By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer

SAN DIEGO(AP) -- Anyone wondering whether the San Diego Padres are for real, check out what they did to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Padres shut out the Brewers for the third time in four games on Sunday, winning 8-0 on a combined three-hitter by Jon Garland and two relievers.

It was the first time the Padres had three shutouts in a series of any length in their 42-year history.

Scott Hairston and Kyle Blanks hit consecutive homers in the fifth inning for the NL West leaders, who outscored the Brewers 21-2 in taking three of four. San Diego won the first two games 9-0 and 3-0 before losing 2-1 on Saturday night. The Padres lead the majors with six shutouts. They had nine last season.

The two runs were the fewest allowed in a four-game series in franchise history.

"If you had told us we'd hold them to two runs in four games, we'd feel like we'd come away with a sweep," Tony Gwynn Jr. said. "That's a very, very talented offense over there, and our pitching really stepped up and held them down."

Garland (3-2) won his third straight start by holding the Brewers to three singles in seven innings, with five walks and three strikeouts. Mike Adams threw a perfect eighth and Sean Gallagher made it interesting in the ninth, walking the bases loaded with two outs before getting Rickie Weeks to fly out.

"Right now we're just feeding off each other, and it's fun," Garland said. "It's a lot of fun. We don't talk about it, but we know it. As long as we can keep coming out and keep giving this team a chance, as you can see, we're going to get on base, we're going to make things happen. There's going to be some rough patches, but as long as we come out and continue to play our game, we're going to be in the mix."

Garland said the key for him was keeping the ball down and forcing the Brewers to swing at pitches they didn't want to swing at.

"Early on I think I got away with a few and then I started dialing it in a little better as the game went on," he said. "I can't say it enough: quality pitches. It doesn't matter if that guy knows what's coming. If you can put it where you want it, then they put it in play on the ground or pop it up, lazy fly ball, anything to do to get an out, it's working out."

San Diego won for the 13th time in 16 games. The Brewers, who came into the series leading the NL in scoring, went hitless after the second inning and lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

Prince Fielder said the Brewers' offense is "just not working at all. That's why it's so frustrating. Any time you're held to one run (two, actually), the pitchers have to be doing something well. But it's still frustrating. I don't know what the answer is. It's just unfortunate right now."

Scott Hairston had two RBIs and older brother Jerry Jr. had one.

Lance Zawadzki singled during his first big league at-bat, six years after getting the first hit in Petco Park history.

Zawadzki was a freshman playing for Tony Gwynn at San Diego State when the Aztecs beat Houston 4-0 in the first game at Petco Park on March 11, 2004, before an NCAA-record crowd of 41,106. He doubled off the right-field wall for the first hit at the downtown ballpark.

The Padres promoted Zawadzki from Triple-A Portland on Friday after shortstop Everth Cabrera was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. He made his big league debut Sunday, starting at second base.

Zawadzki singled to right off Randy Wolf (2-2) leading off the third, advanced on Garland's sacrifice and scored San Diego's first run on a triple to left by Tony Gwynn Jr., another former Aztecs player. Left fielder Ryan Braun made a diving attempt at Gwynn's fly ball and missed, with the ball rolling to the wall. Gwynn scored on Scott Hairston's single.

Scott Hairston homered off the railing on the fourth-floor balcony on the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner with one out in the fifth, his fourth. Two pitches later, Blanks homered into the first row of seats in left field, his third, to make it 4-0.

Will Venable hit an RBI single in the seventh. Jerry Hairston Jr. and Yorvit Torrealba had RBI singles during a three-run rally in the eighth, which was aided by two Brewers errors.

"You're pretty much behind the 8-ball with the way we've been swinging the bat and their bullpen," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "You can't make mistakes early and get away with it because their bullpen makes it a six-inning game."

Wolf allowed four runs and six hits in five innings, struck out five and walked six.

NOTES: Padres RHP Chris Young made a rehab start with Double-A San Antonio, lasting only two-thirds of an inning while allowing five runs and two hits, with four walks and a strikeout. He threw 35 pitches, 15 of them strikes. ... Blanks started at 1B for Adrian Gonzalez, who had started the season's first 24 games. Gonzalez came in during a double switch in the eighth. ... Scott Hairston had two stolen bases, his first career multisteal game. ... The Padres stole four bases, giving them 29 in 35 attempts this season.