SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres were only able to avoid heartbreak for a single night.
The Padres suffered a 3-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Petco Park, ending their postseason.
San Diego’s clubhouse was somber, with players reflecting on the season after exchanging handshakes and hugs.
“They are so special,” Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. said about his team after going 1 for 3 with a home run and a walk. “We went through so many ups and downs this year. We became one (after) we went through every battle and just stuck together. It was an enjoyable group to play baseball with.”
The Padres showed some fight late in the game with the outcome still in doubt.
All-Star closer Mason Miller avoided disaster in the seventh inning.
The Brewers produced a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases before infielder Cooper Pratt lined out to center field, allowing Miller and the Padres to escape the inning.
Miller threw 13 strikes in 21 pitches, allowing two hits while striking out one in the inning.
Manny Machado nearly tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with Tatis on first base, launching a potential two-run home run that was caught at the center-field wall by Garrett Mitchell.
"We had a couple of big pitches and a couple of big swings that didn't quite go our way," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. "I thought Manny's ball was going out tonight."
Machado also appeared confident that the ball was headed over the fence, dropping his bat and blowing his bubble gum before it was denied by Mitchell at the wall.
It was a déja vú moment for Machado, who had a home run ball robbed by Adam Jones in a memorable World Baseball Classic moment nine years earlier in the same ballpark.
Milwaukee rode starter Robert Gasser and reliever Aaron Ashby for most of the game to help preserve its arms for the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who advanced by beating the Atlanta Braves Wednesday.
Ashby finished with three strikeouts while throwing 22 strikes in 38 pitches across three scoreless innings. He replaced Gasser, who pitched the first four innings of the game.
Gasser, a former Padre, allowed three hits and an earned run while striking out three in 56 pitches across four innings.
"You’re not going to win it every year," Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove said. “Only one team can win it. … It never feels good (to be eliminated from the playoffs) but I guess as time passes and you gather your thoughts, you can look back at the positives of the season.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Never feels good': Padres only able to avoid heartbreak for one night
