Thames' walk-off caps HR-heavy win over SD

MILWAUKEE -- Welcome to warm summer nights at Miller Park, where the baseball flies.
The Padres and Brewers combined for seven home runs on Friday, and the one that came closest to not clearing the fence was the biggest of all. Eric Thames got just enough of a Ryan Buchter pitch in the 10th for a walk-off solo shot for a 6-5 Brewers win, capping a night when every run was scored via the longball.
It was the second straight last at-bat win for the Brewers, who won in St. Louis 24 hours earlier on Thames' two-run homer in the top of the ninth. And it was their second walk-off at home, though the other featured a more unconventional finish when Ryan Braun scored on a wild pitch to beat the Cubs on April 7.
"The Padres can swing it, they swing hard," Thames said. "And we bring the bats, too. I feel like that's the way this series will be."
• Thames delivers #ASGWorthy walk-off vs. SD

Thames' homer was his 19th this season to keep pace with the Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman and the Reds' Joey Votto for the National League lead.
"I think it's catchable. I think you'd love to see it caught and brought back," said Padres manager Andy Green. "It's clearly not an easy play, because home runs are not easy things to rob, but it was a makeable play."
The night's other home runs were mostly of the no-doubt variety. Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe homered in the Padres' four-run first inning, but Brewers starter Junior Guerra did not allow another hit while working through the end of the sixth. His solid work allowed the Brewers to tie the game in the fourth against former Milwaukee pitching prospect Miguel Diaz, the Rule 5 Draft pick who made his second Major League start.
• Diaz sees improvement in second start

Travis Shaw pounded a solo home run in the second inning and Keon Broxton stayed hot with a three-run homer in the fourth for a 4-4 tie that stood into the eighth, when Yangervis Solarte connected with a cutter from Brewers reliever Jacob Barnes in Barnes' NL-leading 36th appearance.
San Diego's lead didn't last. Brewers catcher Manny Piña greeted Padres reliever Kirby Yates with a tying solo shot leading off the bottom of the eighth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Four-spot: The game began badly for Guerra and the Brewers when Jose Pirela's leadoff line drive fooled Broxton in center field, who overran the ball and was charged with an error. With Guerra pitching from the stretch, the Padres pounced, putting another runner on base via Franchy Cordero's walk, before Myers hammered an 0-1 fastball off the batter's eye in center field for a quick, 3-0 lead. Renfroe's solo shot came two batters later to make it 4-0.
"We score a lot of runs from the home run, but we'll get better at that," Myers said. "We're kind of an all-or-nothing team right now offensively. But we'll continue to get better. We're young right now, but we'll just keep going and learn from it."

Back to even, but that's all: It didn't fly 489 feet, like Broxton's blast at Busch Stadium a day earlier, but his 425-foot, three-run home run off a 96-mph Diaz fastball was impressive enough. It tied the game at 4, and when top Brewers prospect Lewis Brinson followed with a triple for his first Miller Park hit, it prompted a call for Padres reliever Craig Stammen. He promptly turned in the game's first defensive gem, making a behind-the-back snare of Orlando Arcia's comebacker and throwing home to prevent the Brewers from taking the lead.
"That play behind the back was really special," Green said. "It looked great. … Got out of that situation. It kept us tied at that point. He's done a really good job for us in that role."

Arcia's arm: Arcia helped Jared Hughes deal a scoreless top of the 10th with a remarkable defensive play of his own. The Brewers' shortstop ranged into the hole to make a sliding stop of Renfroe's grounder and threw to first for the inning-ending out.
"It was a momentum-turner," Hughes said. "That play changed the game." More >

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Renfroe's 15th home run set a Padres record for a rookie before the All-Star break. Nate Colbert hit 14 homers before the break in 1969, and he turned out pretty good, topping 20 homers in five straight seasons from '69-'73 and making a trio of NL All-Star teams.
WHAT'S NEXT
Padres:Dinelson Lamet gets the ball for his fifth start this season at 1:10 p.m. PT on Saturday. The right-hander hopes to bounce back after allowing seven runs in each of his last two outings. He's holding right-handed batters to a .138 average, while lefties are hitting .333 against him.
Brewers:Chase Anderson will face the Padres for the second time this season at 3:10 p.m. CT. He earned a no-decision at Petco Park on May 15, allowing four earned runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. But the Brewers lost that game in extras when Renfroe hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the 10th inning.
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