The Brewers left Milwaukee with a 2-0 National League Division Series lead, but Sunday’s 4-3 walk-off win over the Padres came with a reminder that October does not always reward a clean game. Milwaukee made three errors, issued walks at unusual rates and had a few defensive assignments go sideways, yet still found its familiar late-game fight when it mattered most.
Jackson Chourio delivered the deciding two-run single off Mason Miller in the ninth inning after Milwaukee had loaded the bases with three walks. The rally turned a 3-2 deficit into a win and gave the Brewers their second comeback victory of the series.
A messy afternoon, then a ninth-inning finish
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Rookie Logan Henderson made his postseason debut and ran into trouble early. After a two-out walk to Manny Machado in the first inning, Henderson threw a wild pitch, only his second of the year counting the regular season. Ty France followed with an RBI single to put San Diego ahead.
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Henderson matched his regular-season high by walking three hitters before getting his fifth out. Still, he steadied himself enough to limit the damage and keep the Brewers close while Padres starter Michael King retired Milwaukee’s first 14 batters.
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The Brewers’ defense, ordinarily one of the club’s strengths during a 103-win regular season, had a rough fifth inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a possible double-play grounder toward second baseman Brice Turang, but the ball got through Turang’s glove.
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Three pitches later, Turang handled Dustin Harris’ grounder and flipped to shortstop Cooper Pratt for an out. Pratt’s throw to first was ruled an error, allowing a run to score.
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In the seventh, David Hamilton bobbled a soft grounder from Tatis. The extra chance helped set up France’s second run-scoring single of the game.
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Milwaukee’s third error tied its season high. The Brewers had committed three errors twice previously, including during an 11-2 loss at San Diego in August.
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There was one more awkward defensive sequence in the eighth. With Aaron Ashby on the mound, a bunt found first base uncovered. Catcher William Contreras told Ashby to keep the ball, and the left-hander halted the action rather than force a bad throw.
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Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Milwaukee drew three walks from Miller to fill the bases. Chourio then lined the game-winning two-run hit, ending the afternoon in the Brewers’ favor.
Brewers keep finding a way back
Milwaukee posted 42 comeback wins during the regular season, and it has now erased deficits in each of the first two games against the Padres. The club’s ability to reset after a poor inning showed up again Sunday, even as the mistakes piled up.
“It wasn’t my best game out there,” Turang said, crediting his teammates for carrying him through it. He said the fifth-inning misplay came when he briefly lost focus while thinking ahead to the force play and potential double play rather than securing the ball first.
Henderson said the Brewers never felt out of the game despite the shaky beginning.
“It was close the whole game, and we were right there,” Henderson said. “We knew we had a chance.”
Ashby summed up the club’s response to the eighth-inning bunt simply: “Next play. That one’s done.”
Christian Yelich said the Brewers are not concerned with the style points after a postseason win.
“It doesn’t matter how it gets done,” Yelich said. “It just matters that you get it done.”
One win from advancing
The Brewers now head to Petco Park needing one more victory to close the series. Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. CT and 6:30 p.m. PT, with coverage on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One.
Yelich also made clear that the Brewers cannot expect to survive the same kind of afternoon on the road against a Padres club that has made both games tight.
“We have to be cleaner than we were today,” Yelich said. “We’ll take the win, but we got away with some things. Going into that atmosphere against that team, we have to keep playing good baseball if we want to come out ahead.”
