MILWAUKEE — The San Diego Padres will turn to ace right-hander Michael King on Sunday to try to even their best-of-five National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
King (12-10, 3.21 ERA in the regular season) allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings in an 8-0 wild-card victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. He will be opposed by Milwaukee rookie right-hander Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47) in Game 2 of the NLDS.
The Brewers, who earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs after a franchise-record 103 victories, rallied to win the series opener 3-2 on Saturday night on William Contreras’ tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh.
“It always feels good when Michael’s on the mound. We felt good when he’s on the mound all season,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said following Game 1. “He’s definitely been our leader on the pitching staff for the entire season, made every start, pitched really well, coming off a great outing against the Cubs in the wild-card series.
“We’re lucky to have him going into Game 2 and feel really good about it.”
Milwaukee’s bullpen combined for five scoreless innings in the opener after ace Jacob Misiorowski struggled through four innings, allowing two runs on four hits and needing 88 pitches.
Jackson Chourio added a tying two-run homer in the third inning for the Brewers. It was the fifth career postseason homer for the 22-year-old Chourio, the most in franchise history. The Brewers were last in the NL with 154 homers, ahead of only the Toronto Blue Jays’ 152 in the majors.
“I like it that we won that way,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “Obviously, there’s a lot of people in the public opinion that think that we’re not able to connect with the big hits, with the homers.
“I like that today that’s how the game shook out and we were able to win like that. And we were able to show that we were able to play that game as well.”
San Diego, which won 17 of its final 20 games before sweeping the Cubs in the wild-card series, left 12 runners on base and was just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the opener.
King is 0-2 with a 2.96 ERA in four career starts against Milwaukee. He faced the Brewers once this season, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings but did not get the decision when the Padres rallied for a 3-1 road win on May 13 with three runs in the ninth.
“They’re going to try to make us play that Brewer style of baseball,” King said Saturday. “And if they can speed it up and speed me up on the mound, then they’re gonna win. So, it’s all about slowing the game down, making sure that I stay in control and we stay in control as a defense to shut down their, I guess I’ll call them antics, but it’s just playing baseball well.”
Henderson, 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his final seven starts, said he was ready for his postseason debut despite having just 23 major league starts, including 18 this season.
“Not trying to make it too much bigger than it is, and preparing for it like another start,” Henderson said Saturday. “And I think we understand the stakes, but you’ve got to treat it the same. So, yeah, I feel prepared.”
Henderson took the loss in a 3-2 defeat at San Diego on Aug. 10 when the Padres swept the three-game series. He allowed three runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings, including homers by Ty France and Jackson Merrill.
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
