The Brewers are one win from ending this NLDS, and the way Game 3 gets managed could matter just as much as who starts it.
Milwaukee enters the night with a 2-0 cushion over San Diego after taking Game 1 with multiple deep balls and then finishing Game 2 on Jackson Chourio’s walk-off single. That puts the Brewers in firm control, but the script gets a little more delicate with Dustin May lined up to start.
May has not exactly been cruising into October. He’s given up two or more runs in five of his last six starts, and he hasn’t gone beyond three innings in any of his last three outings. That’s why Milwaukee may need to be quick on the trigger if the right-hander doesn’t have it early.
The Brewers have already gotten strong work from their top arms in the first two games. Jacob Misiorowski held San Diego to two runs on four hits over four innings while striking out six, and Logan Henderson limited the Padres to one run on two hits across five innings. With that kind of early-series work, there’s a real case for Milwaukee to go to the bullpen sooner in Game 3 than it did in the first two matchups.
That’s where Kyle Harrison comes in.
Harrison’s season hasn’t been smooth. He was removed from the starting rotation after a rough stretch, and he was on the bubble of even making the Brewers’ NLDS roster.
But his last outing before the postseason gave Milwaukee something to think about. The 25-year-old hit over 97 mph, fired two scoreless, hitless innings and struck out four.
His four-seam fastball also showed the vertical movement that had been missing when his velocity dipped late in the year.
If May runs into trouble, Harrison could be the bridge. Milwaukee had Monday off, so the bullpen should be relatively fresh, and Harrison fits the long-relief role if the Brewers want to cover a couple of innings before handing things over to the rest of the staff.
A win on the road would send Milwaukee back to the NLCS for the second straight season. And with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers tied in their series, the Brewers would still be waiting to find out who’s next if they finish the Padres in Game 3.
In Other News...
Brewers Padres Series Just Got A Petty New Edge
The Brewers have found a little October edge of their own at home, turning to elevator music during opponents batting practice as part of the postseason chess match that tends to show up once the calendar flips. It is the kind of harmless but pointed gamesmanship that feels right for this time of year, when every club is looking for some small way to unsettle the other side before the games start counting in earnest.
San Diego answered in kind at Petco Park, piping elevator music over the speakers while Milwaukee was on the field for an off-day workout. It was a playful jab rather than anything heavy-handed, but it adds a petty little wrinkle to the series and underscores how thin the margins can get when two teams are looking for any edge, even one that sounds more like a department store than a ballpark. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Got A Game 3 Opening Padres Fans Hate
The Padres will have to reshuffle their lineup for Game 3 of the NLDS against Milwaukee after Gavin Sheets was scratched from the starting nine with a stiff neck. He is still available off the bench, but Samad Taylor will take his place in the batting order as San Diego tries to stay alive in a must-win matchup on the road.
Nick Pivetta is set to start on the mound for the Padres, giving San Diego a familiar arm as it tries to extend its season. It will be his second postseason start since returning from injury, and the Padres are banking on him to help steady a lineup that has already lost one key bat before the first pitch. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Had A Strange Game 1 Warning That Suddenly Looks Huge
Rainy conditions forced the Brewers to close the roof at American Family Field for Game 1 against the Padres, and what looked like a routine weather decision turned into one of the defining moments of the night. A ball hit the roof and stayed in play long enough for Jackson Chourio to make the catch, turning the strange carom into an out that helped Milwaukee hang on for a 3-2 win.
Chourio then showed up again in Game 2, this time delivering the walk-off single that sent the Brewers home with another victory and a 2-0 lead in the NLDS. In a series where the smallest details have already mattered, the roof call from the opener suddenly looks like more than a footnote for Milwaukee. [Read more 🡒]