Garrett Mitchell had put the feeling into words before the Brewers ever reached the ninth inning Sunday: this club keeps playing until the final out is recorded. Milwaukee backed up its center fielder’s belief at American Family Field, erasing a quiet night with a 4-3, walk-off victory over the Padres in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
With two outs, two strikes and elite Padres closer Mason Miller on the mound, Jackson Chourio delivered the swing that changed the game. His single sent Milwaukee pouring out of the dugout and turned a game that had dragged through much of the evening into another October memory for a crowd ready to celebrate.
“What feels different is that we’re in it until the 27th out,” Mitchell said last week while discussing why these Brewers believe they can break from the organization’s recent postseason history. “This year, even down to the last out, we still have a chance.”
Milwaukee has reached the playoffs eight times over the past eight seasons, but each of those earlier clubs fell short of the World Series. Chourio’s ninth-inning hit does not erase that history, but it gave this group a moment to point toward as it tries to write a different finish.
The win was the Brewers’ third postseason walk-off. Mike Moustakas ended Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS against the Rockies with a game-winning hit, while Nyjer Morgan’s 10th-inning roller through the middle beat the D-backs in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS. That Morgan play gave Milwaukee its first postseason series win in 29 years.
Sunday brought another full-throated celebration in Milwaukee, this time after Chourio refused to let Miller finish the Brewers off. The series now moves to Game 3 on Tuesday, scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. CT and 6:30 p.m. PT on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One.
