MILWAUKEE — MacKenzie Gore continued to be what the Padres have believed he is, and Jake Cronenworth had the kind of day that hinted he might be too.
For added comfort, Taylor Rogers returned to being what he was before surrendering a total of eight runs and taking the loss in each of his previous three appearances
Gore threw six shutout innings Saturday in his third consecutive quality start, Cronenworth drove in three runs and Rogers pitched a perfect ninth inning as the Padres beat the Brewers, 4-0, at American Family Field.
It marked the first time since May 2016 that the Padres won consecutive games via shutout.
While Cronenworth’s offense provided fresh optimism and Rogers’ appearance gave some reassurance, Gore simply kept rewarding the Padres.
The rookie left-hander struck out 10 batters for the second time in his eight starts, allowing three hits and walking three over six shutout innings.
The 23-year-old Gore threw a career-high 108 pitches while lowering his ERA to 1.50 and his WHIP to 1.06.
He has not allowed a run in 15 innings and has yielded only one run in his past 22 innings, a span of three starts and one three-inning relief appearance.
He was staked a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Cronenworth sent a double down the left-field line that scored Sergio Alcantara from first base.
The Padres added three runs in the fifth when José Azocar and Trent Grisham began the inning with singles, Azocar scored on Jurickson Profar’s check-swing groundout and Cronenworth pulled a change-up down the line and over the right-field wall.
The bulk of the Padres offense has existed in a state hardly above flatlining almost the entire season.
And there might not be a player the Padres are more desperate to hit like he is supposed to than Cronenworth.
Something similar could arguably be claimed about Grisham, who had his second consecutive two-hit game. But Cronenworth, an All-Star last season, entered 2021 seemingly entrenched in the top of the lineup and being counted on to continue hitting at somewhere around the .271/.343/.464 rate of his first two seasons.
He was batting .206/.291/.312 entering Saturday’s game.
