The Brewers have spent two postseason games looking like a team that knows exactly when to deliver.
That’s the biggest takeaway from Milwaukee’s 2-0 start against the Padres, and it’s showing up in the kind of moments that tend to define October. Timely hitting has carried the day so far, and Jackson Chourio has been right in the middle of it.
On Saturday night, Chourio launched a game-tying two-run homer over the right-center field wall to make it 2-2 against San Diego. Buried inside that swing was a little piece of franchise history: he became the Brewers’ all-time postseason home run leader.
That mark might not sound massive at first glance, especially given how limited Milwaukee’s October home run totals have been, but it still says plenty about where Chourio already sits in this organization. Before that blast, Orlando Arcia held the franchise lead with four.
For a club built around a youth movement, that matters. Chourio is locked up through the 2031 season, and there’s every reason to think that total will keep climbing. He’s already putting himself in a different class of Brewers postseason names.
Sunday brought another Chourio moment, and this one may have been even more dramatic. The Brewers were staring at a sloppy game, had already seen their defense commit three errors, and still found a way to push through. Christian Yelich started the comeback with a one-out walk, a pair of walks followed, and then Chourio came up with two strikes and punched a ball up the middle for the walk-off hit.
That kind of finish is exactly the sort of thing Brewers fans haven’t always been able to count on in October. Nyjer Morgan’s walk-off base hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 remains one of the franchise’s classic postseason moments, and Mike Moustakas’ Game 1 blast against the Colorado Rockies in 2018 belongs in that same conversation. Chourio’s walk-off against the Padres now joins that short list.
Milwaukee has also had its share of missed chances in the postseason, including the 2024 Wild Card game, when the tying run was at the plate and the Brewers couldn’t cash in, and the 2021 Division Series, when they needed one run to tie the Atlanta Braves and went down 1-2-3. Those failures are part of the backdrop here. So is the fact that this group keeps finding ways to answer now.
Chourio wasn’t the only one stacking up October power. William Contreras added a solo home run later in Game 1, giving the Brewers a 3-2 lead late.
That homer was his third in postseason play, which puts him third all-time in Brewers postseason home runs. Even more telling, all three have been go-ahead shots.
The pitching has done its part, too. Milwaukee wouldn’t be headed to San Diego with a 2-0 lead without it.
Over the first 18 innings of the series, Padres hitters have reached base 12 times, and San Diego is 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position. On Sunday afternoon, the Brewers’ staff stranded eight Padres runners.
On Saturday night, they left 12 on base.
That’s why this has felt like a full-team effort, even with Chourio grabbing the biggest spotlight. His catch on Ty France’s fly ball that hit the wire connected to the roof also stood out as one of those plays that looks simple only after the fact. Adjusting in mid-flight to make that catch isn’t easy, and Chourio handled it.
Now the Brewers move forward with the kind of advantage every postseason team wants, but not many get. As the No. 1 seed in the National League, they already carry that target on their back, and they’re also dealing with a Padres team that has been one of the hottest in baseball.
Still, Milwaukee has put itself in a strong position by taking the first two games. If it finishes the series, the next hurdle would be either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves, two teams the Brewers would love to finally get over the hump against.
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