SAN DIEGO -- The Padres capped a brilliant 5-1 homestand with a walk-off victory and a sweep of the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park.
Luis Campusano’s single plated Sung-Mun Song in the bottom of the 11th and sent San Diego to a 4-3 victory in one of the most dramatic games of their season.
No matter how it ended, this would've been a fantastic homestand for the Padres. But it ended in extraordinary fashion -- and with San Diego moving a game ahead of the Phillies and Diamondbacks, who each lost.
Here are some takeaways from Petco Park, ahead of a much-needed off-day on Thursday:
A gritty eighth-inning rally
With two outs and nobody on in the eighth inning, the Padres turned in a stretch of three straight brilliant plate appearances to tie the game.
Fernando Tatis Jr., who was pinch-hitting after being given the day off, worked a four-pitch walk. Luis Rengifo followed with a brilliant nine-pitch at-bat, then earned a walk himself. That brought up Jake Cronenworth, which prompted Brewers manager Pat Murphy to go to left-hander Aaron Ashby.
Cronenworth worked a nine-pitch at-bat himself -- and on the ninth, he bounced a chopper to first. But he was hustling out of the box, and Ashby was a split second late to cover. Cronenworth was safe. Tatis was busting it from second base as well, and he scored on the play.
Without hitting a ball out of the infield, the Padres had tied the game at 2 on an ultra-dramatic two-out rally.
The stakes are high … and you can tell
The Padres have perhaps the sport’s best bullpen. They’ve now wrapped up a stretch of 26 games in 27 days and are set to have off-days far more regularly in the coming weeks.
There will be opportunities for manager Craig Stammen to manage aggressively.
Like he did on Wednesday.
New acquisition Robbie Ray grinded his way through four innings of two-run ball. He needed 84 pitches. With a relatively fresh ‘pen -- and an off-day looming on Thursday -- Stammen didn’t hesitate.
He went to Bradgley Rodriguez for the top of the fifth. Rodriguez, one of the Padres’ higher leverage arms, worked two excellent scoreless frames. Jeremiah Estrada followed with a clean seventh. Kyle Hart, newly promoted to high leverage himself, worked in and out of trouble in the eighth.
That’s the nature of the Padres’ deep ‘pen. They can use some of their best weapons in a game they’re losing. (Before turning it over to Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon once the game was tied, of course.)
So close in the ninth
Jase Bowen -- who is used primarily as a speed or defense option off the bench -- came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied at 1. He came an inch from winning the game. Twice.
First, Bowen hit a hard grounder down the line, ruled foul by third-base ump Malachi Moore. Couldn’t have been foul by more than an inch or two. A couple pitches later, Bowen lined what looked like the game-winning single to straightaway center.
But Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell was playing in, and he made a diving grab to send the game to extras.