Milwaukee.Brewers.MLB.com

By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com

Lyle Overbay brings a solid glove and smooth swinging bat to Brewers. (Scott Paulus/Brewers)

Milwaukee first baseman Lyle Overbay doubled in each of his first three plate appearances Thursday and finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and five RBIs. He led the Brewers to a 13-2 rout of the Padres on another steamy day at Maryvale Baseball Park.

"This is the guy Arizona thought they had," said Craig Counsell, who came with Overbay and four others from the Diamondbacks in the December trade for Richie Sexson. "He's a lot more relaxed here and I think that's the main thing."

The team does not expect Overbay to wield a power bat like Sexson, the slugger he is replacing this season, but general manager Doug Melvin and manager Ned Yost are betting that Overbay can be an effective run producer if he hits like he did during his ride through the minors -- high average, lots of doubles.

"He's just got that swing that he hits the gaps," Yost said. "He's got that ability, which is a great ability to be able to put the ball in play and use the gaps like he does."

Overbay doubled to left-center field in the first inning off Padres' starter Ben Howard to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded in the second, Overbay pulled a three-run double to right-center field to give the Brewers a 6-1 lead. The left-handed hitting first baseman poked another double barely fair of third base in the fourth inning and later scored to make it 7-2.

"That's what I need to get back to," Overbay said. "Last year, during the season, I was trying to yank and trying to do too much instead of taking that double the other way."

Overbay pressed last season in Arizona and did not live up to the team's expectations, ultimately earning a ticket back to Triple-A Tucson. Counsell is in the group willing to wager that Overbay can be a productive player given regular at-bats.