With the San Diego Padres trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 in the top of the ninth inning, Ty France stepped to the plate with one on and one out facing Brewers closer Trevor McGill. France connected on what looked like a sure two-run home run, which would have put the Padres in the lead, but the ball hit one of the roof trusses and deflected into the field of play where it was caught by Milwaukee left fielder Jackson Chourio. The play was ruled an out, and after a couple of umpire meetings and a replay
review, the call was confirmed and San Diego was down to its final out. Jackson Merrill hit a well struck line drive to right field, but the ball was caught by Luis Lara and the Padres suffered a 3-2 loss to the Brewers in the series opener of the National League Division Series.
Milwaukee took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when the San Diego bullpen faltered. Adrian Morejon took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and recorded two outs against the first two batters he faced. William Contreras stepped to the plate and battled Morejon before he eventually won the at-bat when he connected on a solo home run on the sixth pitch of the plate appearance which gave the Brewers the lead. Morejon then allowed back-to-back singles before he got the final out on a strikeout.
The Padres had an opportunity to tie the game in the top of the eighth with runners at the corners and two outs. McGill who came in to face Fernando Tatis Jr. was able to get out of the inning with a three-pitch strikeout of one of the hottest hitters in the San Diego lineup. The Padres returned to the plate in the top of the ninth and Dustin Harris led off with a single to right field. Manny Machado followed and like Tatis against McGill, he went down on a three-pitch strikeout to set the stage for the dramatic plate appearance from France.
San Diego had plenty of opportunities to add to its two-run lead that came up empty. The Padres left 12 runners on base and finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the game.
San Diego will try to draw even in the series when Michael King takes the mound against Milwaukee today at 1 p.m.
Padres News:
- Xander Bogaerts is trying something new, although he is reluctant to talk about it. His new split-grip approach at the plate has been paying dividends for him and the Padres over the final month of the season.
- Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball said the Padres hitters needed to carry the momentum from their Wild Card Series into the NLDS against the Brewers. San Diego did that, outhitting Milwaukee 9-7, but two home runs handed the Padres the loss.
- All the talk before the game was how the Padres would handle Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski and truth be told, they acquitted themselves quite well, scoring two runs off the flamethrower and forcing him out of the game after four innings.
- The Padres announced their roster prior to the NLDS opener against the Brewers and it was unchanged from the roster they had against the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series. After the roster was released San Diego announced Walker Buehler was headed to the playoff paternity list and Randy Vasquez was being added to the roster in his place.
Baseball News:
- Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen dominated the New York Yankees en route to a shutout win.
- Tarik Skubal led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a series-opening win over the Atlanta Braves.
- The Chicago White Sox remained hot and opened their series against the Cleveland Guardians with a win.
