SAN DIEGO -- Sometimes, the playoffs come down to a game of inches.
Manny Machado smashed a game-tying deep fly ball to center field that could tie up Game 4 of the National League Division Series if it ... just … kept … going.
But the Statcast-projected 406 feet weren’t enough to hurdle the wall and change the course of the elimination game as the Brewers beat the Padres, 3-1, to win the NLDS.
As Machado blew his bubble gum, dropped his bat and watched the ball soar at 106.7 mph, center fielder Garrett Mitchell backed up to the wall for the catch. Machado gripped his helmet with both hands in disappointment as Fernando Tatis Jr. had to run back to first base.
For as deep as the ball was hit, even if Mitchell had not caught it, it would have been a home run in 19 ballparks – not including Petco Park.
Machado knows exactly what this feels like. Nine years ago, Adam Jones robbed him in one of the World Baseball Classic's most memorable moments, in a nearly identical spot.