Turang, Yelich key to Crew wrapping up NLDS

SAN DIEGO -- It sure felt like forever since Christian Yelich notched a postseason RBI. And it was way too long before Brice Turang got his first hit against the Padres in this National League Division Series.

Still, the Brewers will need to get more from both players to help them advance to the next round, and perhaps beyond, after being handed a 4-3 loss in Tuesday's Game 3 as the Padres stayed alive for another day and now trail, 2-1, in the best-of-five series.

One of several missed opportunities for Milwaukee came in the fifth inning. The Brewers had already scored a tying run and then had the bases loaded and two outs when Turang grounded softly to shortstop Xander Bogaerts for a fielder's choice to keep from adding on.

"Trying to get a good pitch to hit. Just didn’t work out," Turang said. "It’s all right. We’ve got to move on and go win tomorrow."

That out made Turang 0-for-10 in the series and 2-for-40 (.050) with 14 strikeouts over his last 11 postseason games. The hitless skid ended when he lofted a two-out single to left field just out of reach for a diving Jase Bowen in the seventh inning.

"I’ve hit some balls right to people and had some good at-bats. I’ve just got to keep working, keep pushing forward," Turang said. "You just want to get better every day."

Yelich, the recently minted team captain and Milwaukee's longest-tenured star, picked up Turang by scorching a 107.2 mph liner to left-center field for an RBI single. It was his first RBI in a playoff game since his first-inning home run in Game 7 of the 2018 NL Championship Series vs. the Dodgers in a losing effort.

Both hitters got another chance to come through for Milwaukee in the top of the ninth inning. Turang worked a walk against Padres pitcher Michael King to put runners on first and second base with one out.

Yelich followed by blistering a first-pitch slider from King at 107.1 mph, only to see it one-hop directly to Bogaerts at shortstop, who turned the game-ending double play.

"A step to the right or left, it's pretty good," Yelich said. "I hit it hard. Just happened to be right at them. It's unfortunate. Part of the game. It's just how it goes sometimes. You've just got to keep battling. Not much else you can do. It is frustrating when it doesn't really bounce your way, but that's how it goes."

Although he’s driven in just the one run in this series, Yelich is batting .400 (4-for-10) with a double. He got the Brewers' first hit in all three games, and in the Game 2 thriller he drew a one-out walk that led to Jackson Chourio's two-run, walk-off single.

"He's looked great," Brewers hitting coach Eric Theisen said. "He's been on time. He's had some hard contact. As a team, we've had hard contact and some loud outs."

As for Turang, he was the Major League leader for September in average (.361) and on-base percentage (.475) before hitting the schneid in October.

"I think he's working his process, same as he always does, working his ABs," Theisen said. "We've seen some good swings. We've seen him put together some good ABs. The results haven't come. But he's continuing to work day to day the same way he always does. I still think he's in a good spot. Keep plugging away."

Turang's struggles prompted Brewers manager Pat Murphy to drop him from second to fourth in the lineup on Tuesday, while Jake Bauers protected Chourio from the two-hole.

Sometimes a hit -- even a soft one -- can break the spell, but Theisen didn't put too much stock in Turang's bloop single.

"It's great that the ball falls and you get a knock and get on base. But the pitch-to-pitch approach and the way he's navigating at-bats is what's important," Theisen said. "The process is what's important."

Milwaukee left 11 men on base and missed multiple opportunities to take control of the game that would have given them an NLDS sweep. Besides Turang and Yelich, Chourio went 0-for-4 with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly. He was robbed of a hit by center fielder Jackson Merrill's great catch on the warning track to open the game. Bauers went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and a walk.

"We had some really good at-bats, hit the ball hard, put ourselves in a good position to win the game. Sometimes you just need that big hit. We’ve got to focus on winning tomorrow," Turang said. "The quality of at-bats that we’ve had has been really cool to see. We’ll get it going. I trust everybody in this locker room."

Said Theisen: "Not everybody's been hot all year long, and it seems like the lineup is deep. When one or two guys have a stretch of games or two or three where maybe they're not producing like they always do, somebody steps up and does it. That's the beautiful thing about this offense and what we've shown all year."

Now the Brewers need to show it in Game 4.