The fifth inning turned on a ball that stayed fair by inches, and the Padres’ season slipped away from there. Garrett Mitchell’s leadoff drive down the line became a triple, Jackson Chourio brought him home, and Milwaukee finished a 3-1 Game 4 win Wednesday night at Petco Park to take the National League Division Series, three games to one.
The result
San Diego had fought through a series where nearly every break seemed to carry weight. In Game 1 at Milwaukee, a possible go-ahead homer struck a roof cable. In Game 2, Chourio sent a line drive just beyond Jake Cronenworth’s reach. The final game brought another hard-to-forget moment in the eighth.
Fernando Tatis Jr. opened that inning with a walk, giving the Padres a chance against the Brewers’ bullpen. Manny Machado then drove a ball toward the right-center-field wall that had the look of a tying home run. Mitchell ranged back, timed his jump and made the catch at the fence.
“It’s unfortunate,” Machado said, tipping his cap to the defensive play before adding that he needed to hit the ball with more authority.
Milwaukee had taken its first opening lead of the series in the third when Mitchell singled home a run. Tatis answered quickly, drilling a no-doubt homer into the center-field batter’s eye. It was the only run San Diego could produce.
Mitchell’s fifth-inning triple set up Chourio’s RBI single, and Sal Frelick added insurance with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Brewers’ pitching staff did the rest, holding a Padres lineup that had found big moments throughout the postseason to one Tatis swing.
| Game 4 | R |
|---|---|
| Brewers | 3 |
| Padres | 1 |
The loss ends a run that supplied San Diego with six memorable postseason games, but it also leaves the familiar ache of a club that believed it had enough to keep going. This was not a team that unraveled in its biggest spots as the 2024 Padres did, nor one that failed to find its highest level as in 2025. These Padres were close enough to make the result sting.
Machado said the group had endured plenty over the course of the year and fought through it together. The immediate feeling, he said, was pain, though he remained proud of what the clubhouse accomplished and urged the team to absorb the blow while appreciating the season it shared.
The larger wait continues. The Padres have made the postseason in each of the past three seasons and in five of the last seven, an unprecedented stretch of sustained October contention for the franchise. Yet the organization is still seeking its first World Series championship.
The offseason ahead
Questions now move from the field to the roster. Adrian Morejon, Ty France and Michael King all enter uncertain situations, with Morejon’s status particularly noticeable during this series. The left-hander missed Games 2 through 4 while dealing with fatigue in his left shoulder.
San Diego pieced together its pitching plan without him. That approach worked in Game 3, but the margin disappeared in the finale when the bats cooled. A season of resilience ended with Mitchell at the wall, one more narrow break in a series decided by very little.
