The Padres will try to wipe away the sting of Game 1 and get the National League Division Series back to level on Sunday, and they’re doing it with a small but notable tweak to the lineup.
After San Diego’s 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, the club is turning the page quickly. The defeat came after Ty France nearly changed everything with a ninth-inning drive that hit the roof at American Family Field, killing what looked like a go-ahead homer. The call stood, and manager Craig Stammen said the crew applied the rule correctly.
“The rule is if they deem the ball to be fair and it comes down, you can catch it. If it hits off the roof foul, then it’s a foul ball. They ruled that it hit the roof fair, and the outfielder caught it," manager Craig Stammen said after the game.
“So unfortunately, it was a bad break for us. It looked like it was a possible home run. Just didn’t go our way.”
San Diego’s answer on the mound is Michael King, who gets the ball after a dominant outing against the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the wild-card series. King threw seven scoreless innings in that start, giving up one hit and striking out eight.
“It always feels good when Michael's on the mound," Stammen said. "We felt good when he's on the mound all season. He's definitely been our leader on the pitching staff for the entire season, made every start, pitched really well, coming off a great outing against the Cubs in the wild-card series.
"We're lucky to have him going into Game 2 and feel really good about it."
King already saw Milwaukee once this season, working 5.2 innings on May 13 and allowing one run on six hits with five strikeouts. He said Saturday the Padres need to keep the game on their terms.
"We want to play Padre baseball," King said on Saturday. "They're going to try to make us play that Brewer style of baseball. And if they can speed it up and speed me up on the mound, then they're gonna win.
"So it's all about slowing the game down, making sure that I stay in control and we stay in control as a defense to shut down there, I guess I'll call them antics, but it's just playing baseball well."
Milwaukee will counter with right-hander Logan Henderson, who put together an 11-3 record with a 2.47 ERA in 18 starts this season. He struck out 110 and walked 19 across 98.1 innings. Henderson also faced San Diego on Aug. 10, when he allowed three runs over 6.1 innings and struck out seven.
The Padres’ lineup change is a simple one: Salas and Bogaerts are switching spots, and the 20-year-old rookie will not bat sixth. Everything else stays the same.
First pitch for Game 2 is set for 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m.
ET on Sunday, Oct. 4.
In Other News...
Brewers Hold On After Wild Ninth Inning Call Sparks Padres Fury
A bizarre ninth-inning moment at American Family Field became the defining flashpoint of Game 1 of the National League Division Series, when Ty France sent a fly ball high enough to strike a cable on the roof before Jackson Chourio made the catch for the Brewers. The umpires ruled it an out under the ballparks ground rules, deciding the ball had hit over fair territory, and the call immediately turned a tense postseason game into the kind of replay-worthy controversy that tends to linger long after the final pitch.
For Milwaukee, the ruling helped preserve a hard-fought win, but it also left the Padres simmering over how the final inning unfolded. Craig Stammen and Pat Murphy both addressed the play afterward, along with players involved, as the odd sequence became less about the mechanics of a ruling and more about the pressure-cooker reality of October baseball, where a single strange bounce can reshape a whole series opener. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Misiorowski's Wild NLDS Start Left Brewers Fans With One Concern
Jacob Misiorowskis NLDS debut gave Brewers fans exactly the kind of electricity they have come to expect from the rookie right-hander, and then some. In Game 1 against the Padres, he reached a new velocity peak with a 104.8 mph pitch and kept the fastball coming, piling up 52 pitches at 100 mph or harder while working four innings and striking out six.
For Milwaukee, the appeal is obvious. Misiorowskis stuff can change a series in a hurry, and he left the opener having allowed two runs on four hits and a walk before the Brewers turned to the bullpen with the game still hanging in the balance. The only real question now is how that kind of effort shapes what comes next, because outings like that can be a weapon and a warning at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Willson Contreras Just Changed An Early Brewers Playoff Storyline
The Brewers opened their NL Division Series with a tight 3-2 win over the Padres, and the biggest swing came from a familiar face who had been at the center of a late-season flashpoint. Willson Contreras delivered the go-ahead solo homer in the seventh inning after Jackson Chourio had already dragged Milwaukee back into the game with a tying two-run shot earlier, giving the Brewers the kind of timely power they have been chasing as October pressure ramps up.
Contreras performance carries extra weight because manager Pat Murphy benched him late in the regular season over a lack of hustle, a decision that had left his role under the microscope going into the postseason. Instead of letting that become the headline, Contreras answered in the first game that mattered most, giving Milwaukee an early playoff storyline built around response, not resentment, even if the full impact of that turnaround is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]