William Contreras hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers survived a white-knuckle bullpen night to beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night.
Contreras delivers again
With two outs and a full count in the seventh, Contreras lofted a pitch from one of baseball's toughest relievers, San Diego's Adrian Morejon, over the wall in right center to give Milwaukee its first lead of the night. It was the second straight year that Contreras has produced a massive playoff home run for the Brewers.
The Brewers had fallen behind early, with San Diego plating two runs in the second inning off starter Jacob Misiorowski, who was limited to four innings after the Padres fouled off 30 pitches and drove his count to 88. Milwaukee tied the game in the third on a 420-foot blast from Jackson Chourio off Padres starter Robbie Ray, his fifth career postseason home run, which gave him sole possession of the franchise's career postseason home run lead.
A bullpen high-wire act
Milwaukee's bullpen then pieced together the final five innings in dramatic fashion. Trevor Megill secured a four-out save, entering in the eighth with runners at the corners and two outs to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr. on three pitches. In the ninth, after striking out Manny Machado following a leadoff single, Megill watched a towering Ty France fly ball strike the cables of the stadium roof in fair territory and deflect down to Chourio for the catch, sealing the 3-2 win in a three-and-a-half-hour thriller.
San Diego finished with nine hits to Milwaukee's seven, but could not push across the tying run. The Padres challenged the cable deflection, but the out stood.
What's next
The Brewers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee, before the series shifts to San Diego for Game 3.
Sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers survive high-wire act, beat Padres in Game 1, 3-2
Contreras delivers again
With two outs and a full count in the seventh, Contreras lofted a pitch from one of baseball's toughest relievers, San Diego's Adrian Morejon, over the wall in right center to give Milwaukee its first lead of the night. It was the second straight year that Contreras has produced a massive playoff home run for the Brewers.
The Brewers had fallen behind early, with San Diego plating two runs in the second inning off starter Jacob Misiorowski, who was limited to four innings after the Padres fouled off 30 pitches and drove his count to 88. Milwaukee tied the game in the third on a 420-foot blast from Jackson Chourio off Padres starter Robbie Ray, his fifth career postseason home run, which gave him sole possession of the franchise's career postseason home run lead.
A bullpen high-wire act
Milwaukee's bullpen then pieced together the final five innings in dramatic fashion. Trevor Megill secured a four-out save, entering in the eighth with runners at the corners and two outs to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr. on three pitches. In the ninth, after striking out Manny Machado following a leadoff single, Megill watched a towering Ty France fly ball strike the cables of the stadium roof in fair territory and deflect down to Chourio for the catch, sealing the 3-2 win in a three-and-a-half-hour thriller.
San Diego finished with nine hits to Milwaukee's seven, but could not push across the tying run. The Padres challenged the cable deflection, but the out stood.
What's next
The Brewers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee, before the series shifts to San Diego for Game 3.
Sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers survive high-wire act, beat Padres in Game 1, 3-2