The Padres beat up on some struggling teams and some bad pitching during their recently concluded nine-game winning streak. That’s not meant to discount those wins -- they count just the same, and the margins in the National League West this season feel razor-thin.

But when the Padres arrived in Milwaukee this week, with Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes on the docket to start for the Brewers, it represented a different kind of challenge.

“We want to get to the playoffs,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said Monday night after Woodruff had snapped his team’s winning streak in the opener. “These are the types of guys you're going to have to find a way to beat.”

The Padres found a way Tuesday -- by running wild against Burnes in Game 2.

In a 7-1 victory over the Brewers at American Family Field, the Padres did everything that they could to frustrate Burnes, one of the best pitchers in baseball through the first two months of the season. They stole six bases, including a perfectly executed double steal, on which catcher Victor Caratini scampered home.

“I love aggressive baseball. I love aggressive baserunning,” Tingler said. “We’ve got the guys to be able to do it. We’re athletic, and we’ve got no fear in us.”

That no-fear approach to baserunning is philosophical for Tingler. He’s been preaching it in San Diego dating all the way back to October 2019, when he was interviewing for the job.

Tingler has put that philosophy into action since he arrived as manager. The Padres lead the Majors with 56 steals, and it’s not particularly close; the Royals are next with 35. 

Tuesday night marked the first time in Padres history that six different players recorded a stolen base in the same game. The most brazen of those steal attempts came during a scoreless game in the third inning, with men on the corners and two outs.

“You’re facing an ace,” Tingler said. “At some point, you’ve got to roll the dice.”

Even so, this was quite the gamble. The man on third base was their catcher -- owner of just two career stolen bases. No Padres catcher on record -- dating back to 1974 when complete stolen-base data is available -- had ever swiped home.

There’s a first for everything. When Jurickson Profar took an 0-2 fastball off the outside corner from Burnes, Ha-Seong Kim broke for second base. Omar Narváez’s throw went through to shortstop Willy Adames, and Caratini broke.

“Normally, they throw through in those situations,” Caratini said afterward. “It was an idea that came from the coaching staff, and it was a good idea -- especially against a guy who’s throwing as well as [Burnes] is.”

Adames’ throw was slightly up the first-base line and Caratini slid in safely. 

“Vic’s not the fastest player on our team by any means,” Padres starter Joe Musgrove said. “But it takes a perfect catch at second, a perfect spin throw to home -- and a good, accurate throw -- to get him out. One of those things misses, we get a run out of it, and I get an early 1-0 lead. That’s huge.”

Profar doubled that lead three pitches later with a single through the right side. That was enough support for the Padres’ pitching staff, despite a short outing from Musgrove, who was lifted with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth sitting on just 84 pitches.

Tingler called it “the last thing I wanted to do,” but said that he was taking a big-picture view of the season. Musgrove had thrown 24 pitches in the inning and had just walked Burnes on four pitches to load the bases. No need to push it. Afterward, Musgrove said that he understood.

“It was probably the right move,” Musgrove said. “I had my chance with Burnes there and I kind of blew that.”

It helps, too, that the situation was begging for Tim Hill, the Padres’ side-winding lefty escape artist. Hill got the lefty-hitting Kolten Wong to bounce harmlessly to short, ending the threat. The Padres tacked on two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

On top of Caratini’s steal of home, the Padres also scored runs on a sac fly, a groundout and a wild pitch. They worked three walks against Burnes, who had allowed just two walks in his first seven starts this season. Prior to the game, Tingler was asked how you set about countering an ace like Burnes.

“You’re going to have to find a way to get on, move runners and get across the dish against these guys,” he said.

The Padres -- like they think they’ll have to do come October -- found a way.