The Brewers are heading back to the National League Championship Series, and once again the Dodgers are waiting.
Milwaukee closed out its National League Division Series on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over the Padres in Game 4 at Petco Park, finishing the job in four games and earning a rematch with Los Angeles. It’s the Brewers’ second straight trip to the NLCS, their fifth in franchise history, and their last three appearances in the round have all come against the Dodgers.
Game 1 is set for Sunday at American Family Field, after the Dodgers wrapped up the Braves in four games earlier Wednesday. And if there’s one obvious twist this time, it’s this: Jacob Misiorowski is lined up to take the ball.
The NL Cy Young Award frontrunner was sitting in the bullpen to open Wednesday’s game, a clear sign of how badly Milwaukee wanted to end the series in four. That plan came with a built-in challenge, though.
To make it happen, the Brewers had to shake off the road-postseason drought that had followed them for years. They had lost their previous 12 road playoff games, tying the longest such skid in MLB postseason history.
Their last road playoff win before Wednesday came in Game 3 of the 2018 NLCS, when they beat Walker Buehler at Dodger Stadium. Buehler was back in the spotlight again Wednesday, starting for the Padres.
Milwaukee’s formula was familiar all season: contributions from everywhere.
Robert Gasser set the tone. The left-hander, once a Padres prospect before being traded to Milwaukee in the Josh Hader deal in 2022, missed most of the last two seasons while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and didn’t make the Brewers’ Opening Day roster. On Wednesday, he gave them four effective innings and left with a 2-1 lead.
The offense came from a few different places, too. Garrett Mitchell, who spent four years fighting through injuries before appearing in more games this season than in his first four seasons combined, shook off a rough start to the series with an RBI single in the third inning. He then opened the fifth with a leadoff triple that set up the go-ahead run.
Jackson Chourio kept building his postseason résumé. The 22-year-old drove a one-out single through a drawn-in infield for his 17th career postseason RBI, passing Ryan Braun for the franchise record and matching Hall of Famer Andruw Jones for the most postseason RBIs in MLB history by a player before his 23rd birthday. At that point in the series, Chourio had driven in six of Milwaukee’s first 12 runs.
Sal Frelick added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 3-1, and from there the Brewers turned it over to their bullpen.
Aaron Ashby handled three hitless innings to help bridge the gap, with the left-hander pitching in a family connection of sorts - his uncle Andy spent eight seasons with the Padres and made two All-Star teams. Abner Uribe then took over against the top of San Diego’s lineup and was pitching for the fourth time in five days. He survived the inning, but not without help.
Mitchell sprinted back to the short center-field wall at Petco Park and hauled in what would have been a tying two-run homer from Manny Machado for the second out. Then Brice Turang made a difficult catch in foul ground to finish off the threat.
Trevor Megill picked up his second save of the series, and Misiorowski remained loose in the bullpen as Milwaukee finished the night without needing him. The Brewers had their road win, and they had their ticket to the NLCS.
Now comes the next test. Milwaukee is one of five active franchises - along with the Mariners, Padres, Rays and Rockies - that has never won a World Series.
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