Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich jogs to the dugout after an at-bat during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres n Tuesday in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich has come off the injured list as the Milwaukee Brewers get more reinforcements after missing some top hitters early this season.

Milwaukee activated Yelich on Tuesday after the 2018 NL MVP and three-time All-Star missed a month with an adductor strain. To open a roster spot for the outfielder/designated hitter, the Brewers optioned first baseman/outfielder Tyler Black to Triple-A Nashville.

“It’s obviously frustrating when you’re not out there and not able to contribute,” Yelich said before batting third as a DH against San Diego. “I’m definitely glad to be back.”

The 34-year-old was hitting .314 with a .375 on-base percentage, one homer, 10 RBIs and three steals in 15 games before going on the IL. He went 0 for 4 in his first game back Tuesday night in the Brewers’ 6-4 victory over the Padres.

Yelich last played on April 12, when he started to feel discomfort while grounding into a forceout in the first inning of an 8-6 loss to Washington. He got pulled for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning.

Milwaukee was without Yelich, outfielder Jackson Chourio and outfielder/first baseman Andrew Vaughn for much of the last month. Chourio went on the injured list on opening day and Vaughn played just one game before joining him as both dealt with fractured bones in their left hands.

Chourio and Vaughn were both activated on May 4. The Brewers went 14-9 while Yelich was out, including a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees last weekend.

“The guys did a great job,” Yelich said. “They’ve been playing well. Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute to that a little bit.”

Yelich’s return could provide a power surge to a lineup that entered Tuesday with a big league-low 26 homers. Although the Brewers entered Tuesday ranked eighth in runs (195) and fifth in on-base percentage (.333), they were 28th in slugging percentage (.353).

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before Tuesday’s game that “we’re still finding ourselves” and that “we’re still understanding what kind of offense we need to be.”

“We’ve faced some really good pitching, if you think about it, some of the best in the major leagues,” he said. “So I think it’s hard to evaluate it by numbers in those small increments. But certainly we weren’t as confident as we’ve been at times. I think it’s good timing that Yeli’s back because our road is very, very difficult.”

Black batted .333 with a .357 on-base percentage, no homers and seven RBIs in nine games with Milwaukee. The 25-year-old entered this season batting .211 (12 of 57) in his previous major league stints.

“Tyler knows that he’s good enough to play in the big leagues,” Murphy said. “Tyler knows that he belongs. He knows that he’s wanted. His time will come again.”

In other injury news, the Brewers estimated that outfielder Brandon Lockridge could return in mid to late June. Lockridge sustained a major cut and bruise to his right knee while sliding into foul territory in the fourth inning Friday as he tried to catch a fly ball.

“There’s some other testing we want to get done, so we’re going to get another scan done to make sure that there’s no further bruising of the bone and that type of thing,” Murphy said. “It takes a while for the swelling and everything to calm down. He’s got another test to go through, but we’re anticipating somewhere around a month, maybe six weeks.”

Brewers 6,

Padres 4

MILWAUKEE (AP) — 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 for their fifth straight victory. Brandon Sproat struck out six and allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings to earn his first career win.

Ortiz’s solo shot in the third inning was his first homer since July 19 of last year and only his second extra-base hit this season. Milwaukee scored five runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead.

San Diego’s Miguel Andujar homered and hit an RBI double.

Mets 10,

Tigers 2

NEW YORK (AP) — A.J. Ewing gave the Mets just the offensive jolt they were looking for throughout his impressive major league debut, and Freddy Peralta pitched six effective innings in New York’s 10-2 victory over the sloppy Detroit Tigers. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez doubled in the fourth and scored on Carson Benge’s tiebreaking single, but was removed in the sixth after hitting a foul ball.

Late in the game, the team announced Alvarez has a right knee injury and will undergo imaging Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Ewing laced an RBI triple in the seventh for his first career hit. He also walked three times, scored twice, drove in two runs and stole a base.

Braves 5,

Cubs 2

ATLANTA (AP) — Grant Holmes combined with three relievers on a one-hitter, Austin Riley and Mike Yastrzemski homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2 in the opener of a three-game set between the National League’s top teams. Didier Fuentes worked three scoreless innings in relief of Holmes, who had not pitched since May 1.

Atlanta’s starter worked four innings, allowing a solo homer to Alex Bregman and an RBI grounder by Moisés Ballesteros. Dylan Lee pitched a perfect eighth and Raisel Iglesias went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his seventh save. Iglesias has not allowed a run over 11 2/3 innings this season.