SAN DIEGO -- Much of the buzz around the Brewers going into Tuesday night's game centered on the major league debut of touted shortstop Orlando Arcia.
In the end, it was an old hand who powered Milwaukee to a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
Ryan Braun hit a tiebreaking homer in his return to the lineup after missing five games with a sore right side.
"It was big, for sure," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
So was Zach Davies' performance. Davies (9-4) won for the ninth time in 10 decisions by limiteding the Padres to two runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander, who struck out four and walked two, won his third straight start.
"It's easy to be confident when you see how the game unfolds," Davies said. "There was good defense behind me and the bullpen was still good, even though some guys were missing."
Tyler Thornburg worked the ninth for his third save, one day after the Brewers traded closer Jeremy Jeffress and reliable reliever Will Smith.
"Every pitch was a high-stress pitch," Counsell said. "The bullpen did a nice job."
Luis Perdomo's downfall was a two-run sixth, highlighted by Braun's 15th homer. Perdomo (5-5) was charged with three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings while throwing a career-high 113 pitches. He walked four (two intentional) and struck out six.
"Perdomo was pretty tough," Counsell said. "His sinker was pretty good, but Braun got a slider."
Davies was tougher.
"He has really established himself," Counsell said. "In the first two innings he had to battle out of some jams, but then he got on a really good roll."
Jonathan Villar and Hernan Perez had three hits apiece as Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games.
Arcia, the team's top prospect, went 0 for 4 with a strikeout after getting called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Braun hit Perdomo's first pitch of the sixth over the left-field fence to give the Brewers a 2-1 advantage.
"The pitch he probably wants back is that first-pitch breaking ball to Braun," Padres manager Andy Green said. "(The slider) probably wasn't our best pitch selection."
Milwaukee made it 3-1 when Perez followed with an infield single and came around on Chris Carter's double down the left-field line.
The Padres sliced the deficit to 3-2 in the sixth on Jabari Blash's run-scoring single that glanced off Villar's glove at third base. Carlos Torres relieved Davies and got Derek Norris to fly out with two on.
Norris' RBI single tied the score at 1 in the fourth. Norris drove in Blash, who walked and stole second.
The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth thanks to some help from the Padres.
Perez opened with a fly to right and Blash took a curious route in tracking it. He got twisted around and the ball hit the warning track, bouncing into the seats for a ground-rule double.
Perez stole third and scampered home on Perdomo's wild pitch.
The Padres had two baserunners in each of the first two innings but failed to score.
"I focused a little bit more after that and mechanically smoothed some things out," Davies said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: INF/OF Alexi Amarista was placed on the 15-day DL after straining his left hamstring while running the bases Monday night.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Junior Guerra (7-2, 2.70 ERA) is 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA over his last seven starts, producing quality starts in six of them. In his only career start against the Padres, he threw six scoreless innings in a win on May 13.
Padres: RHP Edwin Jackson (1-2, 5.46) makes his third start at Petco Park and the Padres hope it's more like his first one than his last one. Jackson was tagged with the loss on Friday against the Reds, giving up six runs in five innings. On July 17 at Petco, he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a win over the Giants.
