For the second straight day, the Brewers get shut out by the Padres as Milwaukee's offense no match for San Diego's rookie pitcher

It was like someone hit copy on the Milwaukee Brewers performance from Friday night and pasted it over to Saturday.

The offense struggled mightily against an electric San Diego Padres starting pitcher while the Brewers' own young, excellent arm allowed more runs than typical in another shutout loss.

Instead of Joe Musgrove taking a no-hitter into the eighth as he did the day before, it was the Padres’ 23-year-old rookie lefty Mackenzie Gore striking out 10 over six scoreless as San Diego rolled to a 4-0 win at American Family Field.

Milwaukee was shut out in consecutive games for the first time since July 3-4, 2019.

"The game happens and you’re not gonna stop the game," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "We got to figure out a way to score and we just haven’t had good at-bats. We faced two very good pitchers the last two days. But then we got to figure out a way to score."

Box score: Padres 4, Brewers 0

With a lineup missing regulars — when healthy — Christian Yelich, Luis Urías, Hunter Renfroe, Willy Adames and Omar Narváez, the Brewers were already facing a disadvantage against Gore.

"We’re a little more banged up and the guys that are out there, they have to play and they’re capable of putting up runs," Counsell said. "Against good pitchers, you’re just not gonna get many chances to do it. And the last two days, we haven’t been able to capitalize on kind of small opportunities that we’ve had."

They managed three hits and three walks off Gore, who has firmly entrenched himself in the running to win rookie of the year in the National League, and had only one runner reach second base.

"Young pitcher looking to attack the zone and obviously has plus stuff and gets ahead of counts, keeps you off-balance," Keston Hiura said on the heels of a four-strikeout game. "It's the funky delivery, as well, so first time (seeing him), he obviously did pretty well against us."

A night after reigning Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes was roughed up for his worst outing of the season, Brewers starter Aaron Ashby gave up four runs over six frames, although much of that damage was the result of bad luck.

A pair of grounders against the shift resulted in Padres singles to lead off the top of the fifth. One run scored on a weak tapper to second baseman Kolten Wong with one out, then the next batter, Jake Cronenworth, made it a 4-0 game with a two-run home run to right.

Even that ball was lightly-struck, at least relatively speaking for a ball that left the yard. With a 95 mph exit velocity and 37 degree launch angle, it had an expected batting average of .170, per Statcast. Hit anywhere but the protruding picnic area in right field and it’s a lazy fly, but Cronenworth placed it in the exact spot he needed to.

"Bad luck, but probably not the right pitch in that spot," Ashby said. "I probably should have gone back to the slider there. That’s baseball. You have to make a better pitch there and learn from it."

Aaron Ashby showing his value to the Brewers pitching staff

All things considered, it was another strong outing from Ashby, whose development at the big-league level continues to be one of the top bright spots on the Brewers. He matched the longest outing of his career, a mark that he set earlier in the week when he struck out 12 Cubs batters, and didn’t issue a walk in a start for the first time this year.

That type of command is a far cry from what Ashby showed in earlier outings both this season and last. The lefty walked 13 batters over a three-start stretch from April into May. Mix in the type of movement that generated nine more strikeouts Saturday and Ashby seems to have turned a corner as a big-league starting pitcher.

"Aaron’s having a really good season," Counsell said. "He’s pitching well. He gives us a chance to win every time now and he’s getting better throughout this. He’s gotten better since day one. There’s development happening.

"No walks, obviously that’s a good thing. He’s gonna have some outings where he pitches really well and gives up a couple of walks but he’s turned into a really good starting pitcher."

But for as positive of news as Ashby’s pitching may be in the long-term view for the Brewers, the returns from the rest of the team in the short term were ugly.

They have scuffled at the end of a rigorous stretch of 18 games in 17 days that ends — mercifully — after Sunday’s contest. The Brewers lost a pair of winnable games to close out the series in Chicago earlier this week and are a thrilling comeback Thursday night away from a season-long five-game losing streak.

"I think we’re all tired," Ashby said. "It’s just kind of part of it, there’s these long stretches of baseball and this is where good teams are made. You have to bear down and fight."

Not all is lost, however. Milwaukee remains two games ahead of St. Louis in the division and has been playing seemingly at half-strength since mid-May. The Brewers are hoping their health turns the corner soon as Adames, Renfroe and Brandon Woodruff are all nearing returns.

Adames returned to the team Saturday from a rehab assignment. He is expected to be activated for Tuesday's game, as is Renfroe, the Brewers rightfielder said after the game.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers shut out by Padres again as Mackenzie Gore silences Milwaukee