Brewers No Match for Peavy, Padres

Jake Peavy quickly regained his All-Star form.

San Diego’s ace tied his career high with 13 strikeouts and yielded two hits in seven scoreless innings Thursday to lead the Padres to their 11th victory in 12 games, 8-5 over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.

Peavy’s only disappointment was that throwing 109 pitches kept him from having a shot at a complete game.

“When you have good stuff, you’re going to end up striking guys out,” he said. “I just hate that I threw so many pitches. I should have finished that game.”

Peavy (3-3) lowered his earned-run average to 3.61 after it had reached 5.17 on April 25. He looked more like the pitcher whose 2.27 ERA in 2004 was the best in the majors.

The Brewers, who struck out 16 times and didn’t score until after Peavy left, have lost seven of nine. They went 1-5 on a six-game trip against the Dodgers and Padres.

Peavy gave up a single by Bill Hall and a double by Chad Moeller to start the third, putting runners on second and third. He got out of the jam by striking out pitcher Ben Hendrickson, retiring Gabe Gross on a fly to short left and striking out J.J. Hardy.

Peavy, San Diego’s only All-Star last season, walked two. He set his career high of 13 strikeouts June 20 in a 1-0 home win against the Dodgers.

He also had two hits and two RBIs Thursday, contributing to rallies in the first and third innings. He drove in runs with an infield single in the first and a ground-rule double in the third.

Atlanta 9, Florida 1 -- Dontrelle Willis was roughed up again, and the Braves got a season-high 18 hits at Miami. Andruw Jones and Todd Pratt each hit a two-run double during Atlanta’s six-run third inning against Willis (1-4).

A 22-game winner last season, Willis yielded seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings. His ERA climbed to 6.22.

Cincinnati 5, Washington 4 -- Ken Griffey Jr. made a dramatic return to the Reds’ lineup, hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning. He hit the second pitch from Joey Eischen (0-1) for his 539th homer. He hadn’t played for a month because of a strained tendon behind his right knee.

Philadelphia 2, New York 0 -- Center fielder Aaron Rowand broke his nose on a spectacular run-saving catch, Chase Utley homered and the Phillies won at Philadelphia. The game was stopped because of rain after the Mets batted in the top of the fifth inning.

Arizona at Pittsburgh -- The game was postponed because of rain. It will be made up on June 19, previously an off day for both teams.