|
 Peralta answered the ball, working into the seventh inning as the
Brewers won their fourth in a row with a 4-3 victory over the Padres
at Miller Park.
"He came out firing," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He had a good,
tight slider that got underneath our swings —
a hard slider in the
upper 80s.
"He's part of a very strong rotation that has thrown the ball well
so far this year. It's been the secret to their success. He followed
in line with what the other guys are doing."
Peralta won his third straight start by holding the Padres to six
hits and a walk and striking out six.
Only two of his three runs were earned. And while he found himself
in trouble at times, he was able to avoid the big inning that
plagued him during much of his rookie season.
"That's the thing that I've been working on ever since I've been in
the minor leagues," Peralta said. "I've just grown up as a
professional and as a man too. I'm able to control the situation and
not let it get away for a big inning. I'm going to just try and keep
doing it."
Milwaukee's offense did its part to back Peralta, scratching out
four runs against San Diego right-hander Andrew Cashner.
Cashner came into the game having held opponents to two earned runs
or less in his last 10 appearances and had made quality starts in
each of his last 11.
Those streaks came to an end as Cashner allowed four runs, seven
hits and two walks in his six-inning effort.
"They have a good-hitting team over there," Cashner said. "I didn't
execute well with my sinker tonight; I was up with it quite a bit
tonight. I feel like I beat myself tonight."
He avoided early trouble, stranding center fielder Carlos Gomez at
third with nobody out in the first and Jean Segura at second with
one out in the second before the Brewers got to him in the third.
Peralta led off the inning with a double to left and moved to third
on center fielder Carlos Gomez's groundout to short. Second baseman
Scooter Gennett followed and tripled to the gap in right center to
score Peralta and give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.
Right fielder Ryan Braun made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to the
wall in center and Ramirez continued his red-hot start to the
season, hammering a 1-0 fastball from Cashner to straight-away
center for his third home run of the year.
"He hung in there," Black said of Cashner. "He obviously didn't have
the command he's had his previous starts, but he hung in there and
kept us in range and didn't let the game get out of hand.
"He's been so good at commanding the fastball, but this was a night
he just didn't."
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The Padres took advantage of an error by Gennett in the fourth to
make it 3-2, but Braun's RBI single in the fifth restored
Milwaukee's two-run lead.
Outfielder Chris Denorfia's home run in the seventh made it a 4-3
game, and when the Brewers could not cash in on opportunities to add
insurance runs in the seventh and eighth, Roenicke had no choice but
to turn to right-hander Francisco Rodriguez for the fourth
consecutive game.
Rodriguez came through as well, working around a one-out single by
Cabrera for his eighth save of the season.
"He wants to be out there every day," Roenicke said. "He played
catch, felt great ... He's going to tell me the same thing
tomorrow."
The Brewers have won four in a row and five of their last six games.
Their 15-5 record is the best in baseball.
NOTES: Brewers CF Carlos Gomez and C Martin Maldonado were both in
the lineup on Monday and had yet to hear from the league office
about a possible suspension for their roles in a bench-clearing
brawl on Sunday at Pittsburgh. ... San Diego signed RHP Billy
Buckner to a minor league contract on Monday. He will report to
extended spring training to get into game shape. Buckner, 30, has a
career 6.07 ERA in five seasons with Kansas City, Arizona and the LA
Angels. ... After the bullpen had to cover eight innings Sunday in a
14-inning victory over the Pirates, the Brewers optioned RHP Rob
Wooten and recalled RHP Alfredo Figaro from Triple-A Nashville on
Monday.
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