The Brewers had six strong innings from Logan Henderson and a two-run homer from Christian Yelich, and still walked out of San Diego with a 3-2 loss after Jackson Merrill flipped the game with one swing in the seventh.
Milwaukee struck first in the second inning. William Contreras, batting sixth, drew a one-out walk off Padres starter Casey Mize, and Yelich followed by jumping on the first pitch he saw - a fastball he crushed for a two-run shot. It was exactly the kind of early jolt the Brewers needed, especially after Pat Murphy dropped both Contreras and Yelich lower in the order before the game.
That move came after both veterans had been scuffling lately, and neither has been close to the standard they’ve set over the years. Yelich, in particular, has started to look like years of injuries may finally be catching up with him. Still, both remain dangerous enough to change a game in one at-bat, and for a moment in the second, the lineup tweak looked perfect.
Henderson did his part to make that lead matter. For six innings, he was in control almost the entire way, allowing only Ty France’s solo homer in the third and just two other hits while striking out seven. The Brewers were up 2-1 and Henderson was at 76 pitches when Murphy sent him back out for the seventh.
That decision turned the night. Henderson got Manny Machado to pop up for the first out, but his fastball had dropped to barely 90 mph, a clear sign he was running out of steam.
France then singled on a ground ball into left, and Merrill stepped in with the tying run aboard. After taking a strike and a ball, Merrill turned on an 82 mph changeup and launched it 431 feet over the center-field fence for a 3-2 San Diego lead.
Henderson stayed in for one more batter and walked Luis Rengifo on five pitches before Milwaukee finally went to the bullpen. Recently activated Lyon Richardson came on for his first Brewers appearance, but he walked Gavin Sheets to load the bases before striking out Freddy Fermín. Sung-Mun Song then sent a hard grounder down the first-base line, and Jake Bauers made the play to snag it and beat Song to the bag, keeping the damage from growing.
The Brewers could point to Henderson’s pitch count and his excellent work through six as reason enough to send him back out, but the gamble backfired. With a bullpen that has been one of baseball’s better groups, Milwaukee had other options. Instead, a game Henderson had largely controlled changed on one pitch.
From there, the Padres’ bullpen made sure the Brewers never got back in it. Adrian Morejon worked the eighth and let only Jackson Chourio reach with a ground-ball single before Jake Bauers grounded into an inning-ending double play. Mason Miller handled the ninth, walking Contreras with two outs to bring Yelich up with a chance to end it with another big swing, but Brandon Lockridge, pinch-running for Contreras, was thrown out trying to steal second to finish the game.
The Brewers will try again Thursday in San Diego, with Kyle Harrison set to start against Walker Buehler. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 p.m.
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