Milwaukee has the early edge, but Sunday’s Game 2 carries the familiar October pressure for both clubs. The Brewers can take a commanding two-game lead before the series shifts to Petco Park, while the Padres will hand the ball to Michael King knowing a split on the road would change the temperature of this National League Division Series.
Key takeaways
- Milwaukee won Game 1, 3-2, on home runs by Jackson Chourio and William Contreras.
- Michael King starts for San Diego against Brewers rookie right-hander Logan Henderson.
- Teams that seize a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have won 83 of 93 times, an 89% rate.
- Only three clubs in 36 tries have lost the first two Division Series games on the road and still advanced under the current format.
- Game 2 is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT, with FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One carrying the broadcast.
King gives San Diego its October answer
There is no mystery about why the Padres feel good about their chances with King on the mound. The right-hander went 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA in the regular season and posted a 6-3 record with a 2.93 ERA after the break. His career postseason ERA stands at 2.05.
King has already shown the sort of October nerve a club wants at the front of a rotation. Against the league’s top offense in the Wild Card round, he carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. He also owns more than one playoff outing of seven shutout innings. After injuries took away much of his 2025 season, he has again looked like a top-of-the-rotation arm.
“It always feels good when Michael’s on the mound,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said.
Henderson, 24, brings a different look for Milwaukee. His four-seam fastball comes in roughly 10 mph slower than the heater thrown by Game 1 starter Jacob Misiorowski, but its movement and shape have made it effective. Henderson has not yielded more than three runs in any of his 23 big-league starts. This will be his first postseason appearance after a forearm injury last year kept him off Milwaukee’s Division Series and Championship Series rosters.
The moment is not lost on Henderson, who said the opportunity to pitch for the team and the city is difficult to describe. Still, his approach is to prepare as he would for any other outing rather than let the stakes get too large.
Game 2 will air nationally at 3 p.m. local time in Milwaukee, 4 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. PT. U.S. viewers can also stream postseason games through MLB.TV with a participating pay-TV authentication. International availability applies outside Canada; Sportsnet carries the postseason in English in Canada, while RDS has the National League playoffs in French.
Lineup decisions and bullpen mileage
Luis Campusano is expected to catch King, continuing his role as the right-hander’s regular battery mate. The likely Padres lineup has Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field, Dustin Harris in left, Manny Machado at third, Ty France at first, Jackson Merrill in center, Xander Bogaerts at shortstop, Gavin Sheets at designated hitter, Campusano behind the plate and Jake Cronenworth at second.
Sheets has not started a game this postseason, but the matchup presents a logical opening. He has dealt with a foot problem for much of the second half and is limited to DH and pinch-hit work. Austin Hays, Samad Taylor, Miguel Andujar and rookie catcher Ethan Salas are other possible DH choices.
Machado and Bogaerts have each opened the playoffs 5-for-11, while France is 5-for-12. Merrill went hitless in five Game 1 at-bats, and Hays is 0-for-6 this postseason.
Milwaukee could counter with Garrett Mitchell in center field, Chourio in left, Brice Turang at second, Contreras catching, Jake Bauers at first, Christian Yelich at DH, Joey Ortiz at third, Sal Frelick in right and Cooper Pratt at shortstop.
The Brewers finished with the fewest home runs in the National League during the regular season, then rode two of them to the Game 1 win. Chourio hit a two-run shot, and Contreras broke the tie with a solo drive in the seventh. Chourio has now homered in each of the four postseason series he has played and owns the Milwaukee franchise record for playoff homers. Contreras’ three postseason long balls have all been two-out, go-ahead hits.
Ortiz entered the series carrying concern over abdominal, groin and right knee issues, but he moved well in Game 1. He hit .341 with an .884 OPS from Aug. 2 through season’s end. Milwaukee can use left-handed hitter David Hamilton at third against certain pitching matchups. Turang finished September with a Major League-best .361 batting average and .475 on-base percentage, and his 1.077 OPS ranked among the top 10.
The bullpen picture will matter quickly if either starter exits early. San Diego’s late-game plan centers on Mason Miller and setup man Adrian Morejon, although Morejon threw two innings Saturday. Bradgley Rodriguez, Jason Adam and Yuki Matsui are available for key early spots but likely for only an inning each after working in Game 1. Randy Vásquez can cover length if needed, and he is expected to have no particular restriction before Walker Buehler is activated from the paternity list ahead of Game 3. The Padres are still without Jeremiah Estrada because of a right shoulder impingement, though Joe Musgrove’s return after nearly two years recovering from Tommy John surgery gives the club another option.
Milwaukee showed in the opener that its relief corps can trade punches with San Diego’s. Trevor Megill, fresh off a second consecutive 30-save campaign and a career-best 0.89 WHIP, earned his first multi-inning save of the season in Game 1. Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall also appeared, with Ashby and Hall covering multiple innings. That workload could make left-hander JoJo Romero especially important Sunday. Robert Gasser, Shane Drohan and Kyle Harrison are rested possibilities for multi-inning work or an opener role, giving Milwaukee several fresh left-handed choices.
