Griffin Canning rattled early, Padres leave Milwaukee with a whimper

MILWAUKEE - Griffin Canning's third start for the Padres was both interminable and brief.

He was on the mound for nearly 20 minutes in the bottom of the first inning while throwing 43 pitches, just 19 of them strikes, and allowing three runs on four consecutive walks and a single.

His portion of the second inning was also nearly 20 minutes long. Among his 21 pitches were more strikes, but more of those got hit. He surrendered two singles and two doubles, made a throwing error and allowed three more runs before handing the baseball to manager Craig Stammen and walking off the mound having recorded two outs.

“It just sucks,” Canning said. “Chance to win a series and just get all the momentum taken away from us right away.”

No, there would be no pulling another rabbit out of a hat, no pulling another win from their backsides, no comeback this time.

On Thursday, the Padres simply played out the next seven innings, showered and dressed and headed out of town following a 7-1 loss to the Brewers.

“It’s always tough to get down 6-0 early and then try to fight back,” Stammen said. “We’ve been fighting back all year, and sooner or later, you just can’t put yourselves in those type of holes all the time.”

It wasn't a great stay in Brew City, though consistent with the Padres’ season, it was better than it could have been.

They stole one of the three games they played at American Family Field, continued to hardly hit, had a lead at the end of just two half-innings and saw two members of their starting rotation pulverized.

Still, they took a 25-18 record - tied with the Dodgers for fourth-best in the National League when the game ended - to Seattle for the second half of their six-game road trip.

Canning, who signed with the Padres in February and began the season on the injured list while working back from his June Achilles surgery, had been mostly effective in his first two starts.

On Thursday, nothing worked.

Canning yanked his sinker. His curveball wasn't curving. His slider hung up in the air. So did his changeup.

His 51.5% strike rate was the third-lowest of his 113 career starts.

It got away from him in a hurry.

By the time the Brewers put their first ball in play, they already made an out and led 1-0.

After opening the game with a strikeout of Jackson Chourio, Canning walked the bases full and then walked a runner home. After a two-run single by Luis Rengifo, Canning retired the next two batters to get a break.

It was a short reprieve.

Brewers starter Kyle Harrison, who allowed a pair of two-out hits and threw 28 pitches in the first inning, regrouped and took just 14 pitches to get through the second.

Two-thirds of Canning's pitches were strikes in his second inning, but two-thirds of the batters he faced got hits.

After the first of those hits, he made a high pickoff throw that caromed off first baseman Gavin Sheets' glove and allowed David Hamilton to get to third base.

That became a mere blotch on the ugly outing, as the error did not figure into any scoring when Brice Turang followed with a one-out double and Gary Sánchez with a two-out double.

Ron Marinaccio, who was warming up, sat down after the first inning but was back up early in the second inning and into the game after a single by Andrew Vaughn made it 6-0.

The Brewers added a run against Marinaccio in the bottom of the fourth before Yuki Matsui turned in two scoreless innings and Matt Waldron made an encore appearance in the series after allowing six runs in 2⅔ innings as the bulk reliever on Tuesday.

This time, he took over in the seventh inning and finished the game without allowing a run. Stammen said after the game that Waldron is moving to the bullpen.

One-out singles by Sheets and Ramón Laureano in the fourth comprised the Padres’ only other threat against Harrison in his five innings.

Sheets, whose three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday gave the Padres a 3-1 victory, also walked in the sixth inning against reliever DL Hall.

The Padres avoided what would have been the third time they were shut out in the past 12 games when they scored an unearned run off Brian Fitzpatrick in the ninth inning.

Canning was the first Padres starter since Rich Hill, on Sept. 4, 2023, to allow as many as six runs without getting out of the second inning.

“Obviously, just can’t walk guys,” Canning said. “It’s disappointing, a little embarrassing.”

Canning dismissed any suggestion his lack of command was related to his working through any rust from a 10-month layoff.

“I feel too good right now, my stuff is too good to not be on the attack and going after guys,” he said. “… I feel really good. I feel like I've stacked some good weeks together, good days together, my bullpens and everything feel really good. So I just need to execute pitches.”

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 2:06 PM.