SAN DIEGO — Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th for the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, who beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Thursday night.
Tellez’s sac fly brought in Christian Yelich, who began the inning as the automatic runner on second base and advanced when he and Willy Adames pulled off a double steal. Adames drew a leadoff walk off Luis Garcia (0-2).
San Diego’s Trent Grisham hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth off Matt Bush, who played at Mission Bay High before his hometown Padres made him the No. 1 pick overall in the 2004 draft. Bush was trying to protect a 3-1 lead and got two quick outs before walking pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter and then serving up Grisham’s shot to right-center, his fourth.
Devin Williams (2-0) struck out Juan Soto, Xavier Bogaerts and Nelson Cruz in the ninth.
Joel Payamps pitched the 10th for his first career save, striking out Luis Campusano with runners on first and second to end it.
Former Padres right-hander Colin Rea had shut down his old team in a spot start while being backed by homers from Tellez and Mike Brosseau.
PHOTOS: Tellez's homer, sac fly help Brewers to 4-3 win over Padres
Rea, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Nashville earlier Thursday, held San Diego to two hits in 5 2/3 innings and struck out six while walking one. The 32-year-old, who pitched in Japan last season, played for the Padres in parts of 2015 and 2016. He hadn’t made a start in the big leagues since 2020 with the Chicago Cubs.
“To give us 17 outs in 5 2/3, it’s a great performance for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more. I thought he was wonderful and he gave us a real chance to win.”
Rea allowed Manny Machado’s first home run of the season, an opposite-field shot to right with one out in the first, and then a two-out single to Xander Bogaerts. Rea allowed only one baserunner after that when he opened the third by walking Austin Nola, who was erased by an inning-ending double play.
“I was just glad I didn’t go over to the other dugout after the first inning. That’s all I thought about the last couple of days,” Rea said. “It’s always good to be back here. It’s always a good place to pitch and a good atmosphere.”
The Padres’ roster has turned over completely since Rea was here.
“It’s a different team,” Rea said. “That was my first time facing a lot of those guys so they’d never seen me before. It was good.”
Tellez hit a two-run homer deep into the home run porch down the right-field line with one out in the first off Nick Martinez, and Brosseau had a leadoff shot to straightaway center in the fifth. It was Tellez’s third and Brosseau’s second. In the 2020 AL playoff bubble at Petco Park, Brosseau hit a go-ahead homer off Aroldis Chapman that helped the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees and advance to the AL Championship Series.
TATIS CONNECTS
Fernando Tatis Jr., the suspended Padres superstar, hit three home runs for Triple-A El Paso on Thursday night. Tatis is on a rehab assignment and will be eligible to rejoin the Padres next Thursday after completing an 80-game suspension handed out Aug. 12 after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He went 5 for 6 with 8 RBIs. He’s hitting .478 with a 1.673 OPS in six games.
AZTECS HONORED
The Padres honored San Diego State’s Final Four team by having coach Brian Dutcher and Lamont Butler throw out ceremonial first pitches, with the rest of the team and coaching staff surrounding the mound. Butler’s buzzer-beater against Florida Atlantic lifted the Aztecs into the national championship game, which they lost to UConn.
TRAINERS ROOM
Padres: Matt Williams returned to the team just short of two weeks after having colon cancer surgery. He won’t coach third base or hit fungoes during warmups for at least four weeks but will do whatever he can. He has a follow-up appointment Friday and hopes to be cleared to start traveling with the team.
UP NEXT
Brewers LHP Eric Lauer (1-1, 7.71 ERA) was pushed back a day and is scheduled to start Friday night against his former team. The Padres will counter with RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 3.00).
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