The San Diego Padres staved off elimination and now have their sights set on forcing a decisive Game 5.
The third straight one-run margin in the National League Division Series finally went San Diego’s way, but Game 4 rates as another must-win contest when the Padres and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers collide again on Wednesday night.
“We had our backs against the wall, we had nothing to lose but going out there and playing our baseball,” San Diego third baseman Manny Machado said after Tuesday’s 4-3 home win.
A Game 5, if necessary, would be Friday night in Milwaukee.
The setback was the 12th straight road playoff loss for the Brewers, who were unable to rally in the ninth inning on Tuesday after Jackson Chourio delivered a two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth in Milwaukee on Sunday.
This time, with Padres closer Mason Miller (paternity list) and set-up man Adrian Morejon (shoulder) both unavailable, Game 2 starter Michael King threw 40 pitches and worked two scoreless innings, two days after throwing 72 pitches in Game 2.
King’s final pitch came with two on and one out in the ninth. Brewers star Christian Yelich hit a bullet that San Diego shortstop Xander Bogaerts turned into a game-ending double play.
The Brewers left 11 men on base while struggling in the clutch.
“We hit four or five balls over 100 that were caught, but we also punched out in big situations,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “We had bases loaded. We had other big situations that we didn’t come through.
“So that’s part of baseball. When you’re facing a good team with a good pitching staff, that’s part of it.”
The victory certainly was a relief to Padres manager Craig Stammen.
“It feels like we played three straight games against the Brewers like that,” Stammen said. “We finally were able to come out on the right end of things in this one.”
The Padres have just two extra-base hits in the series and one of them was Jake Cronenworth’s homer to right to lead off the fifth. San Diego never trailed again.
“They’ve been great games,” Cronenworth said of the series. “I think the biggest thing is runs are coming at a premium, especially the way our bullpen is pitching and their bullpen is pitching. You score early, but then you’ve got to kind of add some insurance.”
Milwaukee’s William Contreras reached base four times on three hits and a walk in Game 3. He also hit his second homer of the series.
Yelich had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh. That ended a stretch of 19 straight postseason games without an RBI for Yelich, who had last delivered one in Game 7 of the 2018 NL Championship against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As for Milwaukee’s long postseason road skid, Yelich said, “This team has one person playing from 2018. So that really has no effect on this group.”
Neither team immediately named a starting pitcher for Game 4.
Stammen said his club would name a starting pitcher on Wednesday.
One possibility for San Diego is right-hander Walker Buehler, who was on the paternity list for the first two games of the series.
Buehler is used to big games as he made 18 postseason starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers between 2018-24. He also recorded the save in the decisive Game 5 as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series. He is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA in the playoffs.
Buehler is 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA in four career starts against Milwaukee.
Murphy indicated that left-handers Robert Gasser (20 regular-season starts) and Shane Drohan (19 starts) plus right-hander Chad Patrick (six starts) are all possibilities. A Patrick start would be the beginning of a bullpen game.
Gasser was in the Padres’ system before being traded to the Brewers in 2022 as part of the package in which left-handed reliever Josh Hader went to San Diego. He made two relief appearances in the 2025 postseason.
Drohan is a rookie while Patrick made six relief appearances in the 2025 postseason and gave up two runs and three hits over nine innings. He struck out 11 and walked one.
“We’ve got some used-up guys, but we’ll have some available arms (Wednesday) for sure,” Murphy said.
–Field Level Media
