If the San Diego Padres were looking for a better way to announce themselves this postseason, they wouldn’t be able to find one. The Friars swept the Chicago Cubs at home, outscoring them 12-1 and limiting the Cubs’ offense to just eight hits. It was an all-around dominance that the Padres haven’t approached before. This is all without mentioning that Petco Park was rocking.
Now, the Friars turn to the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Brewers for their first NLDS appearance since they fell to the Los Angeles
Dodgers in 2024. They’ll play the first two games on the road before returning to Petco for Game 3 and a potential Game 4. They need to take at least one game in Milwaukee to have a shot of advancing at home.
Taking the mound
Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) v. Robbie Ray (SD)
This is a big one for San Diego. Misiorowski (the favorite to win the NL Cy Young) is the best pitcher of every postseason team this side of the bracket. He will be a true test for the Padres to see how far they’ve come since last facing the flamethrower. Misiorowski dominated San Diego back in May when the two teams faced off, twirling seven scoreless innings against the Friars.
That being said, this is a very different Padres team than they were back in May. If Misiorowski makes any mistakes, San Diego will be there to take advantage. The Friars can’t afford a misstep, and could seriously beef up their odds of winning the series if they can eke out a win over the Miz in Game 1.
On the other side, Ray gets an interesting nod for the series opener. In six career playoff appearances, he owns a 7.43 ERA and 19 K’s (13.1 IP). That being said, Ray has surged this season. The veteran southpaw posted a 3.59 ERA across 165 2/3 innings between the Padres and San Francisco Giants.
The Brewers have a sneaky offense that can scratch runs across despite their lack of pop. Ray will have to limit them in a similar way to when he faced them in Petco Park. The lefty held Milwaukee to two runs across four innings of work. It seems like all San Diego will be looking for is a few scoreless innings from Ray before turning it over to their vaunted bullpen.
Batter up!
The offense was booming in Petco Park. How much of that was them feeding off the crowd’s energy remains to be seen until first pitch is thrown tonight. Of the group, Gavin Sheets figures to be the biggest wild card (no pun intended) of the bunch. He launched a two-run shot that ended up signing Chicago’s death warrant in Game 2. It was his only swing of the entire series.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Dustin Harris, LF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Gavin Sheets, DH
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Luis Campusano, C
The stars continued to shine in San Diego’s Wild Card Series. Bogaerts, Machado, Merrill and Tatis combined to go 13-for-29 (.448) with three walks, eight runs scored and seven RBI. If that quartet keeps up their momentum, they could easily take San Diego all the way.
Relief corps
It’s all hands on deck for Game 1 of the series. Because the Friars swept the Cubs, they’ve got two full days of rest before the series opener on tonight. That’s great for San Diego because the Padres burned through plenty of guys to finish out the Wild Card Series. After Nick Pivetta finished 3 1/3 innings, Bradgley Rodriguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller slammed the door, allowing only three baserunners combined.
San Diego will be hoping for a tone-setting outing from Ray, but they’ve got plenty of weapons to turn to in case of emergency. Adam, Yuki Matsui, Miller, Morejon, David Morgan and Rodriguez will be available to pitch in relief.
