Box Score
For the third time this NLDS, the Brewers and Padres fought a very close game from start to finish, but this time, Milwaukee was unable to come out on top, as the Padres escaped with a 4-3 victory to cut the series lead to 2-1 for the Crew.
Things started off with a bang, as Jackson Chourio lined a ball into the left-center gap, but Jackson Merrill got a good jump and made a nice sliding catch on the warning track, robbing him of extra bases. Jake Bauers and William Contreras followed with a strikeout
and flyout, respectively, but not before getting Nick Pivetta’s pitch count up to 17.
In the home half of the inning, Contreras inexplicably challenged the first pitch out of Dustin May’s hand, a call that was upheld upon review as he cut Milwaukee’s ABS challenges in half right away. May had a solid inning, though, allowing a two-out walk to Manny Machado but nothing else.
Milwaukee got the first hit of the night as Christian Yelich lined a one-out single to center, but he was left there before May went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
After another nice grab by Merrill to rob Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz had a one-out single in the third but was left stranded, and the Padres got the first leadoff baserunner of the night in the bottom of the frame, as Samad Taylor picked up San Diego’s first hit on a liner up the middle. He then stole second base, advanced on a bunt by Jake Cronenworth, and scored on a groundout by Fernando Tatis Jr. for a 1-0 lead.
Already in a hole, May allowed a single to Merrill, who stole second and scored on a single by Machado to extend the lead to 2-0 before Ty France flew out to end the inning.
Contreras got one of those runs back quickly in the fourth, slugging a leadoff homer over the wall in left to make it 2-1 before Pivetta set the next three down in order.
May returned for the bottom of the fourth to face Ethan Salas, who he walked on four pitches. He then threw another ball to Xander Bogaerts before Pat Murphy pulled the Pat Murphy special, pulling him mid at-bat. JoJo Romero entered and fell behind Bogaerts 3-0 but fought his way back to induce a forceout at second. He then struck out Dustin Harris and got Taylor to pop out, keeping the deficit at one.
Pivetta allowed back-to-back singles to Cooper Pratt and Frelick before Ortiz bunted both over to put runners in scoring position for the top of the order. Pivetta was lifted for Jason Adam, who got ahead of Chourio with a pair of down-and-away sliders before he hit a shallow fly ball to left-center. Surprisingly, Harris caught the ball instead of Merrill (who has the stronger arm) and Pratt made the decision to tag from third, easily beating the throw to tie it up at 2-2.
With two outs, Bauers drew a walk before Contreras singled on a ball that, had it got past Bogaerts at short, would have scored another. Instead, the bases were loaded for Brice Turang, who had to face the lefty Yuki Matsui, who got him to ground out to escape the jam and keep it tied.
That tie didn’t last very long.
Romero stayed in for the bottom of the fifth, and on the first pitch of the frame, he hung a sweeper that Cronenworth promptly put over the wall in right, giving San Diego a 3-2 lead.
Romero and Antonio Senzatela combined to set the next three down in order, sending this one to the sixth.
Yelich started things off with a four-pitch walk before Mitchell got ahead 2-0, but he then took three pitches in the zone to strike out. Pratt followed with a single before Frelick moved both runners up with a groundout to first, and Matsui made way for Bradgley Rodriguez, who got Ortiz into a full count before he flew out to right, ending the inning and once again allowing San Diego to escape the jam.
Senzatela set France and Salas down to begin the bottom of the inning before Bogaerts singled, forcing Murphy to bring in the lefty DL Hall. Miguel Andujar entered as a pinch-hitter for Harris and worked the count full, with a wild pitch by Hall allowing Bogaerts to move up to second. Andujar then hit a broken-bat grounder to short, and Pratt fielded it cleanly but was clearly impacted by the flying bat and Bogaerts’ jump to avoid the ball, as his throw was low and hit the lip of the grass in front of Bauers, allowing Bogaerts to score and extending the lead to 4-2. Jase Bowen replaced Andujar at first and ended the inning as he was caught stealing, but the damage was done and the Brewers had some ground to cover if they wanted to end the series.
After Rodriguez struck both Chourio and Bauers out with ease, the Brewers mounted a two-out rally, as Contreras, Turang (of the bloop variety), and Yelich hit three consecutive singles to get a run back. With the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first, Mitchell was unable to come through, however, striking out to keep the score at 4-3.
Hall worked around a Cronenworth single in the seventh, keeping the deficit at one for the bottom-third of Milwaukee’s lineup, who would go up against Sunday’s starter, Michael King, on just one day of rest in the eighth.
King didn’t look like he had his best stuff, but he only allowed a two-out single to pinch-hitter David Hamilton, who was left there after Chourio grounded out to end the inning. Abner Uribe then made quick work of the 3-4-5 hitters, inducing three groundouts on seven pitches to send this one to the ninth.
After Bauers struck out, Contreras and Turang both drew walks to once again put the go-ahead run on, but Yelich hit into a game-ending 6-3 double play, ending this one just after midnight in Milwaukee.
It was a tough loss for the Brewers, as they out-hit San Diego 11-6 and out-walked them 4-2, but they left 11 runners on base in this one. Contreras led the offense with a homer, two singles, and a walk, while Pratt was the only other player with multiple hits, picking up two singles.
May was just fine to open things, and after Romero and Senzatela allowed runs in the fifth and sixth, the bullpen settled down to allow the offense an opportunity to make a come back.
We’ll be back here for a Game 4 on Wednesday night. Neither team has announced a starter yet, but it seems likely that we will see Robert Gasser for Milwaukee and Walker Buehler for San Diego. First pitch in that one is set for 9:08 p.m. CT. See you then.
