The Brewers opened the 2026 playoffs with exactly the kind of Game 1 they needed, even if it came with a few tense moments along the way.
Milwaukee beat the Padres 3-2 on Saturday night in the first game of the National League Division Series, grabbing an early edge in the best-of-five set. The Brewers had the luxury of a first-round bye, and their return to action came against the hottest team in baseball. Instead of letting that rust show up in a big way, they did enough to take control of the series right away.
Jackson Chourio was right in the middle of it. The 22-year-old finished 1-for-4, and his lone hit was a 420-foot homer in the third inning that tied the game at two.
He also helped decide one of the night’s biggest moments in the ninth. Ty France sent a ball toward the roof at American Family Field that had a chance to become either a go-ahead home run or a foul ball, but Chourio tracked it down and made the catch after it struck the roof.
The umpires ruled it an out, and Milwaukee finished off the win from there.
William Contreras delivered the other big swing for Milwaukee, launching a solo home run in the seventh inning to put the Brewers ahead 3-2. That run stood up as the difference.
On the mound, Jacob Misiorowski started for Milwaukee and gave up two runs over four innings. The bullpen handled the rest, blanking San Diego over the final five frames. Brewers relievers allowed five hits and issued two walks.
For the Padres, the night started with Ray on the mound, and he was out after 2 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs, four hits and two walks.
There’s no way to know whether France’s ball would have left the yard if it hadn’t hit the roof, but that play is likely to linger for San Diego. The Padres came close to stealing Game 1, only to leave Milwaukee with a loss and a 1-0 series hole.
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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 🡒]