The Brewers got the kind of Game 1 they needed Saturday night, and William Contreras was right in the middle of it.
After being benched during the final week of the regular season for not hustling, the All-Star catcher answered in the NL Division Series opener with the swing that changed everything, launching a go-ahead solo homer in the seventh inning of Milwaukee’s 3-2 win over the Padres at American Family Field. For a team that won 103 games and finished the regular season with the fewest home runs in the National League, it was a timely jolt from one of its most important bats.
Contreras’ blast off Padres setup man Adrian Morejon gave the Brewers the lead for good, but the game had already been a grind. Milwaukee needed four shaky innings from ace starter Jacob Misiorowski and still found a way. Jackson Chourio provided the first big punch with a tying two-run homer off Robbie Ray in the third, a shot that made the 22-year-old Milwaukee’s all-time postseason home run leader with five.
The Brewers then turned to a bullpen that handled the pressure late. Left-hander DL Hall worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, got the first two outs of the eighth, and handed things off to Trevor Megill with the tying run on third. Megill struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to keep the lead intact, then survived a wild ninth that ended with Ty France sending a deep drive to left field that hit the cables on the roof of the ballpark.
It was impossible to know off the bat whether France’s drive was fair or foul, but it had a real chance to get out. Instead, Jackson Chourio made the catch, the play was confirmed on replay review, and the Brewers had their first win of the series.
Contreras’ homer carried extra weight because of what happened in Philadelphia during the final road series of the regular season, when the Brewers clinched the first 100-win season in club history. After he failed to hustle to first on a bouncer that Phillies shortstop Trea Turner bobbled, manager Pat Murphy lifted him for a pinch-hitter. The move was meant to reinforce the standards Milwaukee expects from everyone, even three-time All-Stars.
Contreras responded the next night by diving headfirst into first base after a groundout. Murphy smiled in the dugout and later called it "beautiful."
The swing Saturday was just as important, if not prettier. Contreras, who led the Majors and set a Brewers record with 89 RBIs this season while catching more innings than anyone else in baseball, delivered when Milwaukee needed it most and helped send the Brewers into the series with a 1-0 lead.
That matters. In best-of-five postseason series, teams that win Game 1 have gone on to take the series 116 of 160 times, or 73%. In Division Series played under the current 2-2-1 format, teams that win Game 1 at home have advanced 42 of 56 times, or 75%.
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 🡒]
Brewers Just Showed How Theyll Handle Their First Road Playoff Test
With the National League Division Series shifting to San Diego, Pat Murphy has made his first notable road decision of the postseason, turning to Dustin May for Game 3 against the Padres. The right-hander gets the nod over rookie Robert Gasser, a choice that points to Milwaukee leaning on experience and familiarity as the spotlight tightens away from home.
May has already been through nine playoff games, and his track record against San Diego gives the Brewers a little more comfort heading into Petco Park. He also comes in with a recent seven-inning start there, which only adds to the sense that Milwaukee is trying to match the moment with a pitcher who has handled both the stage and the setting before. [Read more 🡒]