MILWAUKEE -- So far, the Padres won the trade. It’s impossible to dispute that.

But on Wednesday night, Eric Lauer did everything in his power to help the Brewers win a ballgame.

Lauer, traded from San Diego to Milwaukee with Luis Urías two winters ago but, like Urías, yet to gain a foothold with his new team, pitched six effective innings after a callup from the Minors and hit his first career home run. Trouble was, it was the Brewers’ only run in a 2-1 loss to the Padres in 10 innings at American Family Field.

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“I wouldn't say it was as much like, I wanted to prove that we won the trade or anything,” said Lauer, who felt stronger as he convinced himself to “chill out,” as he put it, about facing his former teammates. “I don't think that's really going to be decided off of one game.

“It was a good performance, and it was a good performance against a really good team. So I'm happy about that. I think that's something to be proud of for everybody. So I'll take it. I wish we would have gotten a win.”

Lauer walked Tommy Pham leading off the game, and Pham came around to score. Besides that, the left-hander delivered just what the Brewers were looking for as they expanded the starting rotation to a sixth pitcher.

Lauer scattered four hits, all singles, didn’t walk a batter after Pham and didn’t allow another run. Lauer struck out six, including the dangerous Fernando Tatis Jr. on three pitches to end the third inning with a runner at third base.

In the bottom of that inning, Lauer connected with an 0-1 fastball from Padres starter Chris Paddack, his old neighbor in the Padres clubhouse, and sent it just past the reach of a pair of leaping outfielders in left-center field and over the wall to tie the game at 1-1.

Adrian Houser has hit two home runs for the Brewers this season, and Lauer made it three homers for Milwaukee pitchers for the first time in a decade, since Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum each went deep in 2011.

Lauer and Paddack swapped texts after both were out of the game.

“When it happened, I was obviously upset,” Paddack said. “But deep down I was kind of laughing and smiling. It'll be a cool little story we'll be able to tell. But I'll tip my cap to him, man. He got me.”

What’s next for Lauer isn’t clear. The Brewers went to six starters in a stretch of 12 consecutive game days because they prefer to give their regular arms extra rest. Going back and forth between the Majors and Minors, Lauer has a 2.45 ERA in his first 22 big league innings in 2021, and 22 strikeouts to three walks.

“This is important,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We still understand that depth is still a big part of this. He's pitching really well. We've definitely taken notice of it, for sure, so he's going to factor into this.”

Brad Boxberger, Devin Williams and Josh Hader provided brilliant relief, but you can add Wednesday to the list of pitching performances gone to waste because the Brewers lacked the big hit.

It wasn’t entirely for a lack of contact. Willy Adames hit a 101.3 mph lineout to Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth with a runner at second base in the second inning that had an expected batting average of .820, according to Statcast. Travis Shaw hit a 101.9 mph lineout to a tumbling center fielder Jurickson Profar with two outs and two runners aboard in the bottom of the ninth that had a .680 expected average.

And in the 10th inning, after Victor Caratini’s RBI single off Brent Suter scored the automatic runner for a Padres lead, the Brewers were in business again with Adames’ base hit off San Diego closer Mark Melancon. But Keston Hiura had to hold at second base to ensure the baseball got past Tatis at shortstop, and he got only to third base. Then Hiura paused again when Jackie Bradley Jr. scalded a 102.5 mph one-hopper to the right of Cronenworth, who made a diving stop and threw home to retire Hiura easily.

The Brewers were about to come up empty once again.

“One, you have to make sure it's on the ground, obviously,” Hiura said. “Two, you make a diving play, you don't expect him to go home. I went off the bat. In a different case scenario, if it's right at him, he throws it home, I try to get in a rundown, maybe get the runners on second and third, but Cronenworth made a great play, diving after that ball and stealing a hit and saving that run.”

Said Counsell: “That was the play of the game. It changed the outcome of the game. They played great defense. They made plays and caught everything we hit.”