Jackson Merrill put on a show early in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, and he managed to create the night’s funniest moment without saying a word.
The scene came in the top of the third while Brewers manager Pat Murphy was on the Fox broadcast with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci. Milwaukee’s Sal Frelick was in the box when Verducci asked Murphy about the Brewers’ approach at the plate. Frelick then drove a ball into the right-center field gap, and Murphy immediately broke off the interview.
“Get in the gap, Sal.”
Then Murphy watched Merrill close on the ball and, as the Padres center fielder finished a sliding grab, he added, “God d-----, Merrill,”
Merrill had already made his presence felt earlier. In the first inning, he turned in another sliding catch, this one denying Jackson Chourio extra bases in left-center. That gave him two highlight-reel plays in the first three innings alone.
And Merrill kept swinging the momentum San Diego’s way. With the Padres ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the third, he lined a single to center to end an 0-for-11 stretch in his career against Brewers starter Dustin May. Merrill then swiped a base and came around to score on a Manny Machado single, pushing the Padres’ lead to 2-0.
San Diego entered Tuesday night with its season on the line, trailing Milwaukee 2-0 in the NLDS after its usually reliable bullpen let both of the first two games get away. The Brewers, meanwhile, were one win from reaching the NLCS for the second straight year.
The task in front of the Padres is steep. Teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in any best-of-five series in MLB history are 83-10, which works out to an 89.2% winning percentage. The most recent club to climb out of an 0-2 hole was the 2017 Yankees, who came back against Cleveland before falling to the Astros in seven games.
San Diego has pulled off this kind of comeback before. In 1984, the Padres dropped the first two games of the NLCS to the Cubs, then rallied to win the series and advance to the first World Series in franchise history.
For now, Merrill is doing everything he can to make that kind of finish possible again.
In Other News...
Padres Face A Game 3 Problem Fans Will Hate
Nick Pivetta gives the Padres a familiar kind of October question heading into Game 3 against Milwaukee: can recent form outweigh a history that has not gone well in this matchup? Since coming back from the injured list, he has looked much sharper, but his track record against the Brewers has been hard to ignore, with trouble limiting walks and runs across his career starts against them.
For San Diego, the concern is less about what Pivetta has shown lately than whether the Brewers can lean on a matchup they have handled before. His numbers against Milwaukee include an ugly 8.76 ERA and a rough outing dating back to 2017, the kind of background that gives a postseason start a little extra weight, even before the first pitch is thrown. [Read more 🡒]
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Mason Millers sudden October wobble has become one of the sharper questions hanging over the Padres as they head into an elimination game against Milwaukee. After he blew the save in Game 2 by allowing two runs in the ninth inning, the focus shifted quickly from a single rough outing to the possibility that something more was going on, with reports suggesting he may have been tipping pitches.
Miller has denied knowingly doing it, and he has pointed to fatigue from a multi-inning save attempt as part of the explanation for his struggles. Either way, San Diego cannot afford much more uncertainty in the late innings, especially with its offense needing to do more to keep the season alive. [Read more 🡒]
Padres May Have Found An Outfield Answer At The Perfect Time
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Harris is under club control through the 2031 season, so this is not just about one hot stretch or one October series. The real question is how firmly he can lock down left field, a competition that is expected to carry into spring training, and whether the Padres have stumbled onto a long-term answer at exactly the moment they need stability the most. [Read more 🡒]