SAN DIEGO — The Padres were one loss away from a vacation in Cancun, without their All-Star closer, and after blowing leads in both games in Milwaukee .
But on Tuesday night in Game 3, this time, they didn’t blink.
With Tom DeLonge of the band Blink 182 watching from behind home plate, the San Diego Padres held off the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, surviving a tense game to stave off elimination and trim Milwaukee’s lead in the National League Division Series to 2-1.
Their reward? Another elimination game on Wednesday night.
At this point, they’ll take it.
San Diego struck first against former Dodgers’ pitcher Dustin May after Samad Taylor — inserted into the lineup when Gavin Sheets was scratched with a neck issue — singled and stole second.
Fernando Tatis Jr. brought him home with a groundout before Manny Machado punched a two-out RBI single into left for a 2-0 lead.
Nick Pivetta gave the Padres exactly what they needed early, but Milwaukee began its inevitable push in the fourth when William Contreras launched a solo homer to left, then took his time circling the bases and gestured between second and third as Petco Park serenaded him with boos.
The Brewers tied it in the next inning by stealing a run from underneath San Diego’s nose.
With Cooper Pratt at third, Jackson Chourio lifted a shallow fly to left. Pratt tagged anyway, challenging Dustin Harris’ arm, and scored when Harris’ throw arrived without enough mustard on it.
Unlike the hot dogs being devoured throughout the stadium by the sellout crowd of 47,708 at Petco Park.
For a Padres team that had watched Milwaukee steal both games at American Family Field, it felt ominously familiar for the Friars.
But reliever Yuki Matsui escaped a bases loaded jam and Jake Cronenworth put a stop to Milwaukee’s momentum by jumping on a JoJo Romero first-pitch sweeper in the bottom of the fifth for a leadoff homer that restored San Diego’s 3-2 lead.
The Padres added another run in appropriately chaotic fashion when former Yankee Miguel Andujar shattered his bat on a grounder to shortstop.
The broken lumber nearly found Xander Bogaerts, but he managed to avoid the splintered bat and the ball, while Pratt’s one-hopper to first wasn’t scooped cleanly by Brewers’ first baseman Jake Bauers and Bogaerts raced home for an insurance run.
Milwaukee made it 4-3 on Christian Yelich’s two-out RBI single in the seventh, ensuring every remaining pitch would carry the weight of San Diego’s season.
And with Mason Miller unavailable after being placed on the Postseason Paternity List earlier Tuesday, the Padres reached for an unconventional fire extinguisher.
Michael King.
The Game 2 starter came roaring out of the bullpen to help finish what Pivetta and the Padres started, turning a starting pitcher into an emergency postseason weapon with San Diego’s season hanging in the balance.
Desperate? Absolutely.
October doesn’t award style points for bullpen management. It only asks whether you’re still playing tomorrow.
The Padres are.
What it means
San Diego finally punched back.
The Padres still trail the Brewers 2-1 and still have no margin for error, but Milwaukee missed its first opportunity to end this series. Now Petco Park gets another October night Wednesday, with San Diego potentially choosing between Robbie Ray and veteran Walker Buehler for Game 4.
Turning point
Milwaukee had just embarrassed San Diego by scoring Pratt from third on Chourio’s shallow fly, tying the game and seemingly stealing the momentum again.
Cronenworth needed exactly one pitch to steal it back.
Did you see that?
There is no roof at Petco Park — and one Padres fan wanted Milwaukee to know it.
After Ty France’s potential go-ahead homer struck an overhead obstruction at American Family Field in Game 1, a fan arrived Tuesday with a sign delivering the perfect reminder:
“In San Diego there’s no roof to save you.”
Up next
The Padres and Brewers return to Petco Park Wednesday night for Game 4, with Milwaukee getting its second opportunity to clinch the series.
San Diego’s pitching plan remains the biggest question. Ray could return after starting Game 1, while Buehler gives the Padres another option, or they could go with an opener.
Whatever the choice, the assignment is refreshingly uncomplicated now.
Win Wednesday and send this thing back to Milwaukee.
Lose, and start packing for Cancun.
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