MILWAUKEE — Rowdy Tellez isn't accustomed to waiting this long between homers.
Tellez went deep for the first time since May 22 as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 7-3 on Friday for their season-high-tying sixth straight victory. Tellez's three-run shot capped a five-run third inning.
His 406-foot drive to center off a 1-1 curve from Yu Darvish (8-10) ended a career-high string of 128 straight at bats without a homer.
“It’s just nice to do that and help the team win,” Tellez said. "It helps out personally, too.”
Tellez added an RBI single in the seventh inning for his first multi-hit game since June 13.
This has been a difficult season for Tellez, who hit a career-high 35 homers last year. He entered Friday with a .679 OPS, down from .902 in early May. Tellez spent six weeks on the injured list – first with a right forearm issue and later with a fracture in his left ring finger – before getting activated last weekend.
Tellez acknowledged Friday the finger still bothers him at times.
“Some days it feels better than others," Tellez said. “Some days it’s sore. Some days the dog steps on it or something”
Brandon Woodruff (3-1) struck out 11 and allowed only one run in six innings as the NL Central-leading Brewers (71-57) moved a season-high 14 games above .500.
The Brewers also won six consecutive games from April 1-7.
“I feel like we go through this every year," said Woodruff, who lowered his ERA to 2.65. “We go through stretches where we don’t play good. ‘Well, what’s wrong?’ Then we hit this stretch here where we’re playing good. ‘Well, dadgumit, we’re good.’ We’re just playing good baseball.”
While pitching carried Milwaukee for much of the season, the Brewers have scored at least six runs in every game of this win streak.
“A lot of people don’t think we can hit well, but we are a very timely hitting (team), kind of build on each other,” Tellez said. "We have depth in our lineup. It’s a good team. I don’t think people really understand that.”
The game was scoreless until Darvish ran into trouble in the third.
He started the inning by allowing Brice Turang's single and hitting Tyrone Taylor with a pitch. One out later, William Contreras singled home Turang. Willy Adames continued his hot streak with a two-out RBI single before Tellez connected.
Darvish lasted just four innings and allowed six hits and five runs. He struck out three and walked one.
“Just some location stuff today,” Padres coach Bob Melvin said. “It looked like he had good stuff to start.”
Adames also singled and scored in the seventh inning. Adames has gone 12 of 26 with 10 RBIs over his last six games.
San Diego's only runs came on homers from Manny Machado and Gary Sánchez. Machado hit a solo shot off Woodruff in the fourth inning and Sánchez had a two-run homer off Andrew Chafin in the ninth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: 1B Jake Cronenworth left the game after a ninth-inning pitch from Chafin hit him in the area of his right wrist. Melvin said Cronenworth was getting an X-ray after the game. “For him to have to come out of the game means it got him pretty good,” Melvin said.
Brewers: OF Sal Frelick missed a fourth straight game with a hamstring injury. He participated in a pregame workout to indicate how soon he could return. ... RHP Julio Teheran (hip) pitched three innings Friday in a rehabilitation assignment with Single-A Wisconsin. He threw 43 pitches (30 strikes) and struck out four while allowing three hits, one run and no walks.
SALUTING SABATHIA
Former Brewers LHP CC Sabathia threw out the first pitch as the Brewers recognized the 15th anniversary of his 2008 performance, when he led the franchise to its first playoff appearance since 1982. Although Sabathia only spent half a season with the Brewers, he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and and seven complete games over 17 starts during that stretch.
“I think (Christian) Yelich’s second half of 2018 is probably right up there, but CC’s second half of 2008, you talk about those pretty much the same, as good as we’ve ever seen a Brewer play in the second half of a season,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.
UP NEXT
RHP Pedro Avila (0-0, 1.17 ERA) starts for the Padres and RHP Freddy Peralta (10-8, 3.97) pitches for the Brewers on Saturday night.
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