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Padres rally from six-run deficit to beat Brewers

Aug 1, 2009 - 6:35 AM SAN DIEGO(AP) -- On the same day San Diego dealt ace Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox, the Padres offense overcame the shortcomings of one of the starting pitchers they kept.

David Eckstein drove in three runs and the Padres put up season highs with 11 runs and 17 hits to come back from a six-run deficit and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-7 on Friday night to win their fourth straight game.

Peavy, the 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner, waived his no-trade clause to allow San Diego to acquire four pitchers from Chicago, just two months after Peavy vetoed a trade to the same White Sox club.

"With Jake, we knew it was inevitable," Eckstein said. "At some point in time, he was going to get traded. Hopefully, he's happy where he's going and hopefully we got some good guys in return, too. Going out there, the club just never gave up, and just kept fighting back and finally was able to take the lead."

The four-game win streak is the longest for the Padres since they reeled off 10 straight wins from May 15-25. San Diego also came back from a six-run deficit for the third time this season.

"On a personal level, you feel for the players and coaches, but ultimately the game goes on," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Players, even though we're a young group, are conditioned to play and focus on the game, and they did. Once the game started, that sort of takes over."

San Diego starter Chad Gaudin allowed seven runs in the second, before Eckstein capped a four-run fourth with a two-run double against Milwaukee starter Braden Looper.

Will Venable added a two-run home run and Kyle Blanks added a solo shot in the fifth to pull San Diego within 7-6. Blanks, who also singled home a run in the sixth, has hit homers in five of his last 10 games.

Eckstein's sacrifice fly against Tim Dillard (0-1) in the sixth brought home Tony Gwynn Jr. to make it 8-7.

"That's one thing about this club is the fact that our record doesn't show that we play hard every single night," Eckstein said. "I think that's why it's such a fun team to play on. We don't worry about what has happened in the past, we just try to stay in the moment."

Prince Fielder had three hits for the Brewers, including a two-run single in the second as Milwaukee sent 13 batters to the plate while scoring a season-high seven runs in the inning.

"There are three aspects of the game: pitching, defense and hitting, and we didn't do well in two of them," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "A couple of errors in key situations. We didn't pitch very well."

Edward Mujica (3-4) relieved Gaudin in the second and pitched a career-high 4 1-3 innings, allowing just one hit.

Mujica was originally scheduled to make his first start on Saturday, but returned to the bullpen when San Diego acquired left-hander Clayton Richard along with three other pitchers for Peavy, and slotted Richard for Saturday's start instead.

Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams, and Heath Bell each pitched a scoreless inning for San Diego, which had lost eight of nine prior to winning four in a row.

Venable drove in a third run with a groundout in the eighth that pushed the score to 11-7.

Looper could not make the early cushion hold up, allowing six runs on a season-high 10 hits over five innings.

"Today, I felt good, I just made too many mistakes over the plate," Looper said. "I don't know if it was mechanics or what. Obviously it is frustrating to score seven runs, we should have won the game. It's my job to make that stand."

Notes: San Diego replaced hitting coach Jim Lefebvre with Randy Ready, who was the manager of the club's Triple-A Portland squad. Ready is San Diego's fifth hitting coach in four years. Dave Magadan, Merv Rettenmund, and Wally Joyner have also held the post over that stretch. Gary Jones will take over as the manager for Portland. ... Milwaukee recalled RHP Mike Burns from AAA Nashville on Friday. Burns, who took the roster spot of injured RHP Jeff Suppan, will make the start Saturday for the Brewers. ... San Diego honored former closer and all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman with a ceremony prior to the game. Hoffman left San Diego as a free agent in the offseason.