The Padres’ season is on the line again Wednesday, and this time they’re handing the ball to Walker Buehler.
After San Diego stayed alive with a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, the club is trying to do it all over again in Game 4 of the National League Division Series. A second straight victory would send the series back to Milwaukee for a winner-take-all Game 5.
San Diego had to lean on a full bullpen effort in Tuesday’s win, using five pitchers to grab its first victory of the series. Michael King, who started Game 2, was part of that mix, helping the Padres keep the matchup from ending early.
Buehler hasn’t pitched yet this postseason, but the right-hander brings a long track record in October from his days with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He looked like a possible Game 1 option before going on the paternity list when he and his wife welcomed their second child. He rejoined the roster Monday and now gets the ball in one of the biggest spots of San Diego’s year.
"Walker will play a big role in this series at some point," manager Craig Stammen said before the series. "I don't know when that is. But he's got such a playoff pedigree that it will be hard for us to leave him out and not give him a chance to put his mark on the series."
Buehler came to the Padres on a minor league deal and won a spot in the rotation during spring competition. He ended up staying there all year, making 32 starts with a 4.63 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 153.2 innings. His second half was stronger, too, as he posted a 3.62 ERA over 13 starts after the break.
His postseason résumé is the kind teams trust in this spot: 19 career playoff games, 18 of them starts. The lone exception came most recently, when he recorded the final three outs of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees. In all, Buehler owns a 3.04 ERA across 94.2 postseason innings with 114 strikeouts, including a 3.60 ERA over 15 postseason innings in 2024.
On the other side, Brewers manager Pat Murphy has not named his starter for Game 4. He did, however, point to a few possibilities from his own staff.
"You can look at our roster and see who we've started in these situations," Murphy said. "[Robert] Gasser's made starts for us.
Chad Patrick's made starts for us. [Shane] Drohan's made starts for us.
After this is over, we're going to sit down. Staff is going to be waiting for me, and we'll sit down, and we'll talk about it."
He added: "We've just got to kind of regroup here and see where everybody's at."
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