Jackson Chourio gave Milwaukee the last word Sunday, lining a walk-off single against Mason Miller to finish a 4-3 Game 2 win and send the Brewers west with a 2-0 National League Division Series advantage over the Padres.
The 22-year-old outfielder had been hitless in three previous career at-bats against Miller, but that history did not matter in the closing moments at Milwaukee. His decisive RBI was the eighth postseason hit he has produced to either tie a game or put the Brewers ahead, moving past Ryan Braun’s franchise mark of seven.
The result
Milwaukee will take a two-games-to-none lead into San Diego after surviving an afternoon that was far messier than the final line suggested. The Brewers had been among baseball’s most resilient clubs after falling behind during the regular season, going 35-36 in those games and finishing with 42 comeback victories, fifth most in the Majors.
Still, this rally came against a Padres club that rarely let leads disappear. San Diego lost 26 games after holding an advantage in the regular season, the fewest such losses in the National League and third fewest across MLB.
Miller had been especially difficult to crack. He converted 38 of 41 regular-season save chances, a 92.7 percent rate, and his only two losses had come when he began tied games at home rather than save situations. Sunday marked the first time in 2026 that he entered with his club ahead and departed with the Padres beaten.
It was also Miller’s first walk-off loss since May 17, 2025, before he joined San Diego.
Chourio’s October résumé is already putting him in rare company. He owns 15 postseason RBIs in only 14 playoff games, one shy of Braun’s Milwaukee record. Braun needed 27 postseason appearances with the Brewers to reach 16 RBIs.
Before turning 23, only Andruw Jones had driven in more runs in postseason play: Jones had 17, while Chourio stands at 15. Chourio will not celebrate his 23rd birthday until March 11.
At 22 years, 207 days, Chourio became the fourth-youngest player ever to deliver a postseason walk-off RBI. The only younger players on that list are Edgar Renteria, twice during the 1997 postseason, and Jones in the 1999 National League Championship Series.
| Youngest postseason walk-off RBI hitters | Age | Game |
|---|---|---|
| Edgar Renteria | 22 years, 54 days | 1997 NLDS Game 1 |
| Edgar Renteria | 22 years, 80 days | 1997 World Series Game 7 |
| Andruw Jones | 22 years, 179 days | 1999 NLCS Game 6 |
| Jackson Chourio | 22 years, 207 days | 2026 NLDS Game 2 |
The Brewers had to overcome their own unusually shaky infield work to get there. Milwaukee committed three errors, matching its season high. It had made three errors in only two regular-season games, including an Aug. 11 meeting with San Diego; the other came July 29 against the Giants.
Two of Sunday’s errors arrived in the fifth inning, only the Brewers’ third inning with multiple errors all season. During the regular season, only the Cubs and Dodgers had fewer such innings, with one each. Detroit also had two.
Brice Turang’s fifth-inning miscue was particularly out of character. The second baseman ranked second in the Majors with 23 defensive runs saved in 2026 and committed only five errors across 1,311 2/3 regular-season innings at second base.
Padres starter Michael King nearly made the strange afternoon stranger still. He held Milwaukee without a hit for 4 2/3 innings after throwing seven hitless frames against the Cubs in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. King became the fourth pitcher to carry a no-hitter through at least four innings on multiple occasions in one postseason.
Blake Snell did it during the 2020 American League Wild Card Series and World Series, Justin Verlander did it in the 2013 ALDS and ALCS, and Mordecai Brown accomplished it twice in the 1906 World Series. No pitcher has taken two no-hit bids of at least five innings into the same postseason.
Game 3 in San Diego
The series resumes Tuesday with Game 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. CT and 6:30 p.m. PT. The game will air on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One as the Padres try to extend their October at home and the Brewers look to finish a sweep.
