MILWAUKEE (Interstat) — Joey Ortiz homered for the first time in nearly 10 months and drove in two runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 6-4 on Tuesday night at American Family Field for their fifth straight victory.

Brandon Sproat struck out six over 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs to earn his first career victory. Abner Uribe pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.

Ortiz, who entered with a .181 batting average and .193 slugging percentage, broke a scoreless tie in the third inning by driving a 395-foot blast to left-center off Padres starter Matt Waldron. The solo shot put Milwaukee ahead 1-0 and ignited a Brewers offense that had been quiet through the first two frames.

San Diego answered quickly in the top of the fourth. Manny Machado led off with a single, and after two outs, Xander Bogaerts reached on a fielder’s choice. Gavin Sheets walked to load the bases, and Nick Castellanos followed with a two-run single to center, scoring Bogaerts and Sheets to give the Padres a 2-1 lead. The rally ended when Ramon Laureano struck out.

But Milwaukee seized control in the bottom of the fourth in a five-run outburst that proved decisive. Christian Yelich struck out to open the inning, then William Contreras doubled to right. Jake Bauers walked, and Garrett Mitchell singled to load the bases. Sal Frelick then grounded a single to left, scoring Contreras and Bauers to put the Brewers ahead 3-2. David Hamilton reached on a soft bunt single to reload the bases, and Ortiz followed with a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Mitchell to score and tying the game 3-3.

Brice Turang then delivered the biggest blow of the inning, a two-run double to left that scored Frelick and Hamilton, pushing Milwaukee’s lead to 5-3. Jackson Chourio singled to put runners at the corners, but Yelich lined out to end the inning with the Brewers ahead 6-3.

Waldron, the losing pitcher, exited after allowing six runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three.

San Diego chipped away in the sixth. Miguel Andujar led off with a solo home run to left, his third of the season, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Xander Bogaerts followed with a single, but Sproat struck out Ty France and then benefited from a replay reversal that overturned a ball to strike three on Nick Castellanos, ending the inning.

The Padres threatened again in the eighth. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a single, and after Machado struck out, Andujar doubled sharply to center, scoring Tatis and trimming the margin to 6-5. But Sproat, still in the game, struck out Bogaerts and then used a strikeout of France to escape the jam. The Brewers bullpen took over from there.

Shane Drohan pitched a clean seventh, striking out two and allowing no hits. Uribe worked the ninth, striking out one and inducing a groundout and a popout to secure the save.

Milwaukee’s offense collected 11 hits, with Turang going 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Ortiz 2 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs. Jake Bauers also had two hits for the Brewers. San Diego managed eight hits, including two from Andujar and one each from Machado, Castellanos, Bogaerts, Freddy Fermin and Tatis.

The game lasted 2 hours, 37 minutes before an announced crowd of 25,372.

With the victory, Milwaukee improved to 23-16 on the season. The Brewers have won five in a row after sweeping a three-game series against the New York Yankees over the weekend and winning the opener of this set with San Diego. The Padres fell to 24-17, snapping a modest two-game winning streak that included a 10-inning win over St. Louis on Sunday.

The series continues Wednesday with the Padres again visiting Milwaukee. San Diego then travels to Seattle for a three-game weekend series, while the Brewers head to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Twins.

The most important part of the game occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning. After San Diego had taken a 2-1 lead in the top half, Milwaukee responded with five runs on four hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. The inning included a two-run single by Frelick, a sacrifice fly by Ortiz and a two-run double by Turang that gave the Brewers a lead they never relinquished. That burst erased the Padres’ advantage and supplied Milwaukee with enough cushion to withstand a pair of San Diego solo homers later in the contest.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee 7, San Diego 5. The Brewers’ win probability according to Interstat’s ELO system was 57.10 percent. San Diego had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of 10 runs went under the over/under line of 8.5.