No sweep, Crew sets sights on closing out Padres in Game 4

SAN DIEGO -- They have taken the field in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Los Angeles (again), Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles (again) and now San Diego to play postseason baseball games.

And the Brewers have come up short in all of those places.

With a 4-3 loss to the Padres in Game 3 of the National League Division Series at a sold-out Petco Park on a Tuesday night chock full of missed opportunities, the Brewers’ streak of road losses in the postseason stretched to 12. That matched a dubious Major League record set by the Senators and Twins that spanned 62 years from 1925-1987 and a move from Washington D.C. to Minnesota.

The Brewers haven’t gone quite that long since winning a playoff game away from home.

It only feels that way.

Tuesday’s loss dropped the franchise to 6-24 all-time in postseason road games, and 0-12 since a 4-0 triumph at Dodger Stadium in Game 3 of the 2018 NLCS, when Christian Yelich walked with one out in the first inning and scored on Ryan Braun’s double and the Brewers never looked back.

Since then, they have known only frustration. The next day, the Dodgers beat the Brewers in 13 innings. And in the 11 postseason road games that have followed, they have had a lead in four of them, including a lead in the fifth inning or later three times.

They lost every time.

“You have to be able to handle these types of situations,” said center fielder Garrett Mitchell, “if you see yourself going far.”

The Brewers missed a chance to move on after running out of the magic they conjured in thrilling Games 1 and 2 in Milwaukee, stranding multiple runners on base in three consecutive innings from the fifth through the seventh and then coming up empty in the eighth and ninth against a Padres bullpen that was without its relief ace, Mason Miller, who was placed on the paternity list in a surprise move right before the game.

Yelich's 107.1 mph grounder turned into a game-ending double play to quash a ninth-inning rally and seal the victory for San Diego.

It was not for a lack of opportunities. For as much that went wrong for the Brewers in the latest installment of this cinematic series, much went right. After falling into a 2-0 hole for the third time in as many games, the Brewers pulled back into a tie with William Contreras’ second hit and home run of the series in the third, and Jackson Chourio’s sacrifice fly (coupled with a daring dash home for Cooper Pratt) in the fifth.

And when the Padres went back in front, 4-2, scoring the second of those go-ahead runs in the sixth when a bat and Xander Bogaerts’ legs went flying right in front of Pratt before the rookie shortstop committed a run-scoring throwing error, the Brewers answered again. That was thanks to two Milwaukee hitters who have been quiet lately.

Brice Turang was 0-for-10 in the series and 2-for-40 over his last 11 postseason games before blooping a two-out single that pushed Contreras into scoring position for Yelich’s own two-out single, and his first RBI in the postseason since Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. Yelich went 19 postseason games between RBIs.

But it wasn’t enough. The Brewers missed a chance to sweep, and will go into Game 4 on Wednesday night with two outcomes in play.

"We hit the ball hard," said Turang. "We had really good at-bats. We were drawing walks. Sometimes, guys are just right there when you hit them, and sometimes they make really nice plays."

Either they lose again and set an all-time record for consecutive postseason losses on the road.

Or they win the game and the series, and play for the pennant with this losing streak behind them. Going into this leg of the series, Milwaukee’s oft-used lefty reliever Aaron Ashby was viewing that as an opportunity.

“It’s like we’ve got 40 guys versus 50,000,” said Ashby on Tuesday afternoon. “That’s a cool feeling.”

Turang referenced Ashby's comments in his assessment.

"I think Ash said it earlier: It’s like 40 of us vs. 50,000. But it’s fun. It’s fun to play like this, and this is what we play for. We play for times like this. We’ve just got to go out there and trust each other, trust in ourselves and keep playing winning baseball, and things will work out."