SAN DIEGO — Everything was working for Edinson Volquez, and as a result of his handiwork, the San Diego Padres exited skid row.
“About time,” Volquez said after he helped the Padres end a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. “It was great. All my pitches were there. My curve was pretty good, my changeup. Everything was there.”
Carlos Quentin smacked a towering home run, and the Padres snapped the Brewers’ nine-game winning streak before an announced crowd of 17,205 at Petco Park. San Diego (6-15) also halted a slide of seven in a row at home.
Volquez (1-3) tossed seven scoreless innings and retired 10 Brewers in a row at one point before giving up a single to left to Yuniesky Betancourt with two outs in the seventh. Volquez allowed five hits, struck out three and walked none before giving way to reliever Luke Gregerson in the eighth. It was the first time in Volquez’s career he pitched seven innings without walking a batter.
“I thought he pitched well last week in San Francisco,” San Diego manager Bud Black said, referring to the Friday start in which Volquez gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings in a no-decision. “This was a carryover and a much better performance. (His) changeup was effective. I thought that was the key. Threw some good fastballs in on the hands, kept them off the plate a little bit (and) threw strikes when he needed to.
“Got a few outs with the curve as well, so I thought it was a three-pitch mix with the changeup probably the focal point of his success tonight.”
Huston Street gave up a run in the ninth before recording his third save. It was the Padres’ first win at Petco since they beat the Dodgers on April 9 in the home opener.
San Diego recorded a three-game sweep in Los Angeles early last week before being swept by the Giants last weekend and then losing the initial two against the Brewers (11-9).
Milwaukee’s Marco Estrada (2-1) gave a good effort, but Quentin’s fourth-inning homer and an unearned run in the fifth cost him. He allowed two runs, one earned, and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
“It felt really good today, probably the best I felt all year,” Estrada said. “I located pretty well, but obviously one pitch got away from me, and Quentin crushed it.”
Quentin, in his second game back after an eight-game suspension, drove a 1-0 pitch by Estrada off the upper deck off the Western Metal Supply building in left for a 1-0 Padres lead. It was Quentin’s first homer of the season.
“No doubt about it. Hanging breaking ball and he squared it up,” Black said. “You don’t see many up there on the third tier of the Western Metal. That ball was crushed.”
In the fifth, Nick Hundley, who reached on a single and advanced to second on Volquez’s sacrifice, scored on a throwing error by Rickie Weeks for a 2-0 San Diego lead. That turned out to be the difference.
“We haven’t swung the bat real well during the (win streak),” said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke, whose club hadn’t suffered a defeat since an 8-0 rout at St. Louis on April 13. “We swung the bats well against the Giants, but we’ve been scoring early and then not doing a lot. So we’ll pick it up and see if we can get our offense to create more pressure on the pitcher. We didn’t do a lot offensively.”
NOTES: Quentin, who went 2-for-4, has homered against all 29 Major League clubs he’s faced. The only one he hasn’t homered against is the Chicago White Sox, the team he played for from 2008-11. He’s never played against the White Sox. … The Padres promoted LHP Robbie Erlin from Triple-A Tucson and optioned RHP Thad Weber, who threw 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against the Brewers on Tuesday night, back to Tucson. The club also transferred infielder Logan Forsythe from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list. Forsythe, 26, has been out all season with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. … Betancourt had 13 RBIs in the past nine games, including six in the three-game series at San Diego.