San Diego — The Brewers’ October road burden grew heavier Tuesday night, when a 4-3 loss to the Padres at a packed Petco Park left Milwaukee one defeat from an unwanted Major League record. They will take a 12-game postseason road losing streak into Game 4 on Wednesday, with the Division Series still in their hands but no margin left to spare.
The result
Milwaukee fell behind 2-0 for the third straight game, then climbed back even twice before San Diego held on. William Contreras supplied a third-inning homer, his second hit and second home run of the series, and Jackson Chourio brought home Cooper Pratt with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Pratt’s aggressive sprint from third helped tie the game at 2.
The Padres moved back ahead, 4-2, with a two-run sixth. The second run came on a chaotic play in front of rookie shortstop Pratt, as Xander Bogaerts’ bat and legs came through the area before Pratt’s throw got away for a run-scoring error.
The Brewers answered in the seventh, and the rally carried some long-awaited contributions. Brice Turang entered the at-bat 0-for-10 in the series and 2-for-40 across his previous 11 postseason games. His two-out bloop single put Contreras in scoring position, and Christian Yelich followed with another two-out hit to cut the deficit to one.
It was Yelich’s first postseason RBI since Game 7 of the 2018 National League Championship Series. He had gone 19 playoff games between RBIs.
Milwaukee had chances to do more damage. The club left multiple runners aboard in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, then could not break through in the final two frames against a Padres bullpen missing Mason Miller. San Diego placed its relief ace on the paternity list shortly before first pitch.
The last Brewers push came in the ninth. Yelich struck a 107.1 mph ground ball, but it became a game-ending double play.
“To make a deep run, you have to be able to handle this kind of situation,” center fielder Garrett Mitchell said.
The loss dropped Milwaukee to 6-24 in postseason games away from home. Its current skid reached 12, matching the record held by the Senators and Twins franchise, which lost 12 straight playoff road games from 1925 through 1987 across its years in Washington and Minnesota.
Milwaukee’s most recent postseason victory on the road remains Game 3 of the 2018 NLCS at Dodger Stadium, a 4-0 win. Yelich drew a first-inning walk, Ryan Braun doubled him home, and the Brewers never trailed. The Dodgers won in 13 innings the following day, beginning a stretch that has carried Milwaukee through postseason stops in Los Angeles, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago and now San Diego.
In the 11 road playoff losses since that 2018 victory, the Brewers have held a lead four times. Three of those leads lasted into at least the fifth inning.
Wednesday’s decision
Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. CT and 7 p.m. PT, with FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One carrying the broadcast.
The choices are stark. A Milwaukee loss would make the Brewers alone atop the list for consecutive postseason road defeats. A victory would finish the series in their favor and send them on to play for the National League pennant.
Left-hander Aaron Ashby saw the road setting as an opportunity before Tuesday’s game.
“It feels like 40 of us against 50,000,” Ashby said. “That’s a pretty cool feeling.”
Now the Brewers need that feeling to turn into a road win — the first one they have found in October in eight years.
