Padres fall short in hard-fought NLDS against Brewers

SAN DIEGO -- Every postseason exit hurts. They may hurt for different reasons. They all hurt.

This one, most of all, is going to hurt because of what could have been.

The Padres and Brewers staged an epic of a National League Division Series. The margins were thin. Agonizingly thin. A potential go-ahead home run off a cable on the roof in Milwaukee in Game 1. A Jackson Chourio line drive just beyond the outstretched glove of Jake Cronenworth in Game 2. And perhaps the cruelest of all of them: What looked like a potential game-tying home run from the bat of Manny Machado taken away at the right-center-field fence by Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell in Game 4.

"It's unfortunate, man," said Machado. "Nice play. Should have hit it harder."

And like that, the Padres’ season is over. They dropped Game 4 of the NLDS to Milwaukee, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Petco Park. They lost the series by the same tally. So easily, it could have been different.

This wasn’t 2024, when the Padres came apart in the two biggest games of their season. It wasn’t ‘25, when they fizzled, never quite reaching the gear you thought they might. These Padres could have beaten the Brewers. For the next decade, San Diegans will swear that they should have.

They did not.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s exit, there was only disappointment. With time, that disappointment will be complemented by an appreciation that the Padres got here in the first place -- that the Padres managed to provide a memorable run to the postseason, then six deeply memorable postseason games.

Still, the wait goes on. There’s never been an era of Padres baseball quite like this one. They’ve reached the postseason in three straight years and five of seven. But this era still lacks its crowning achievement -- the first World Series title in franchise history.

"It burns," said Machado. "You know? It's pain. This team, we fought all year, dealt with a lot as a group. Overcame a lot. It stings right now, for sure. But at the same time, proud of these guys, what they've accomplished, what they've done. What we did this year, a lot of great things. Unfortunate it just didn't go our way. But take the punch, and enjoy the ride that we had."

An offseason full of questions looms. The futures of Adrian Morejon, Ty France and Michael King are chief among those questions. Morejon’s absence in Games 2, 3 and 4 loomed especially large, after he’d dealt with fatigue in his left shoulder.

The Padres had to piece it all together. It worked in Game 3. In Game 4, well, they did what they could. There was only so much they could do with an offense that went cold.

Mitchell’s third-inning single gave the Brewers an early lead, marking the first time in the series they’d scored first. Fernando Tatis Jr. responded by launching a no-doubter off the batter’s eye in center field. That was all the offense the Padres could muster against one of the league’s best pitching staffs.

In the fifth, Mitchell began the frame with a sharp grounder down the line, just fair in the eyes of first-base ump Quinn Wolcott. (The margins in this series …) Mitchell would reach third with a triple and score on Jackson Chourio’s RBI single. Sal Frelick plated another run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

The Padres’ best chance to tie came in the eighth, after Tatis’ leadoff walk. Machado came a couple feet short.