SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres showed off what was old and new in their 12-3 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
Edwin Jackson, a 14-year veteran, pitched seven scoreless innings and had an RBI double, and rookie right fielder Jabari Blash got his first major league home run.
"First one," Blash said. "Hopefully many to come."
It was a winning mixture of experience and youth, pitching and offense which let the Padres claim this three-game series.
Jackson (2-2) retired the first 11 batters he faced, and the Brewers didn't put a runner in scoring position until Kirk Nieuwenhuis doubled in the fifth. Never mind he wasn't confident about his pitches.
"It's kinda fun when you go out and you feel like you don't necessarily have you best stuff, it's kinda when you have games like this," said Jackson, who is pitching for his 11th team. "You go out and try to be more productive and you're not trying to do too much."
Jackson signed a minor-league contract with the Padres in June after starting the season in Miami's bullpen. He gave up three runs — two on Ryan Braun's homer — and eight hits with five strikeouts in eight innings.
The Padres made it 8-0 on Yangervis Solarte's two-run homer in the sixth. Blash homered in the two-run seventh.
Junior Guerra (7-3) had a rare rough second-half outing, allowing four runs in the first two innings in a four-inning stint. Guerra had won four of his last five starts.
"Some days you have good days and some days you have bad days," Guerra said through a translator. "Unfortunately it was a bad day for me and I have to keep working hard."
For Jackson, it was a good one.
"If he stays away from walking people, there's not been many times in his career where he's gotten consistently hit," Padres manager Andy Green said. "He was in the zone from the first pitch and stayed there though the eighth inning. He was outstanding."
Padres rookie center fielder Travis Jankowski had another productive day with two hits, two runs, a walk and two stolen bases. For the series, he was 6 for 11 with five stolen bases and five runs.
"When Travis is setting the table and he's in that mindset, he's proving to be dynamic right now," Green said. "The stolen bases, wrecking havoc, he's a great guy to have at the top of the order."
The Padres struck early, scoring three first-inning runs, thanks in part to Guerra's two walks. The big blow was a two-run single by Christian Bethancourt. San Diego added to its cushion to 4-0 in the third when Alex Dickerson's bloop double to left field scored Solarte.
San Diego's rally came after the Brewers challenged Myers' slide into second base on a double-play attempt. The Brewers contended that Myers went out of his way to upend shortstop Orlando Arcia.
"I wasn't sure that we would win the appeal, that he changed his path," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "But it was a run scored so it was worth taking a shot."
But did the roughly five-minute delay hamper Guerra?
"We talk about how important it is for starting pitchers to get into a rhythm," Counsell said. "After that they got to him and he had to battle."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: RHP Tyson Ross (right shoulder, left ankle) reported no setbacks a day after an abbreviated throwing session off the mound. There's a chance Ross, who last pitched on opening day, will return before the season's end.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson (6-10, 5.13) makes his second career start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday as Milwaukee continues its six-game road trip. Anderson, who beat Arizona on July 25, aims for his third straight win despite having no quality starts over his last eight outings.
Padres: LHP Christian Friedrich (4-6, 4.72) looks to recapture the form he flashed when winning three straight decisions in May and June as he faces the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. He's coming off a rocky outing, surrendering five runs on six hits in three innings against the Washington Nationals on July 24.
