MILWAUKEE -- In their heart of hearts, the Padres would almost certainly have signed up for a split in Milwaukee this weekend.
Petco Park has been a fortress this year. Win just one of the first two games of this National League Division Series at American Family Field, and you come back home feeling like you’ve taken full control of the series.
All of that remains eminently possible.
But on a night like this one -- a night when they grabbed an early two-run lead against presumptive NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski, then chased him after four innings and 88 pitches -- the Padres could only lament a missed opportunity.
William Contreras hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning off Adrian Morejon, sending Milwaukee to a 3-2 victory in Game 1 on Saturday night. A potential go-ahead home run from Ty France in the top of the ninth hit a cable high above left field and settled in the glove of Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio for the second out of the inning.
Per the ground rules in Milwaukee, it was the correct ruling, but a brutal one nonetheless. And one final missed opportunity in a night full of them for the Padres.
“We did a good job against [Misiorowski],” France said. “He’s the best pitcher in the league. We got his pitch count up early. Got him out of the game early. Would have been nice to win this one. But the baseball gods had other thoughts.”
From the start, San Diego made Misiorowski work. He came out firing -- throwing the two fastest postseason pitches recorded by Statcast in the pitch-tracking era. Still, the Padres were on him. Or, just about.
They fouled off a whopping 30 pitches, the most by any team in the first four innings of a postseason game in the pitch tracking era (since 2008). They even grabbed an early lead, with a pesky two-run rally in the second inning.
“Those guys had an approach, and they stuck to it,” Misiorowski said. “They did their job, and I had to find a way to battle back.”
The Padres had Misiorowski on the ropes, but they couldn’t quite break it open. Up 2-0, they loaded the bases in the second, but Manny Machado grounded out to end the frame.
“We did our job, man -- we got him out early, got to the bullpen,” Machado said. “We had a situation there, I came up with bases loaded. Could have put a little dagger in it. We could have put some more runs up on the board and we didn't.”
An inning later, Jackson Chourio tied the game with a two-run homer off Padres starter Robbie Ray. And by the top of the fifth inning, this was a battle of bullpens -- on a night with Misiorowski starting, no less.
The Padres will almost always like their chances when that’s the case. Even against the Brewers, whose bullpen is one of the best in baseball, as well.
They matched zeros for most of the next few innings, though both teams had their chances. Padres right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third. Jackson Merrill flied out with the bases loaded in the fifth, then did so again in the seventh.
“It was a freaking hell of a game,” Machado said. “It was a battle. Punch to punch, blow by blow, it was back and forth. Just one big swing by [Contreras].”
With two outs in the seventh, Morejon threw a 100.1 mph sinker on the outside corner but left it just a bit up. Contreras took an outstanding swing, launching it a Statcast-projected 406 feet to the opposite field. Just like that, San Diego trailed for the first time all postseason.
The Padres roared back. They put two men aboard in the eighth, forcing Milwaukee to go to closer Trevor Megill with two outs. He punched out Fernando Tatis Jr. on three pitches, then nailed down the save in the ninth -- with some help from above. Literally.
By the time the game ended, the Padres were adamant that they’d already turned the page. Again, they will happily take a split, and they’ve got ace Michael King on the mound in Game 2. If they can win that one, they’ll like their chances.
In the history of the Division Series with the 2-2-1 format, when a team earns a split on the road in the first two games, that team has gone on to win the series 30 of 49 times.
"We left it all out there,” Machado said. “Tomorrow's a different day. We come out there, we've got King, and we're confident in him. Go out there and try to get back to San Diego 1-1.”