Jackson Chourio Does It Again: Brewers Come Back to Win Game 2
They opened the roof. That’s the first thing you need to know about Game 2 of the NLDS between the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres. Nobody had to worry about knocking the ball off a girder or a wire or a catwalk or a dangling chain of sausage links hanging from the ceiling. More importantly, nobody had to worry about the damn thing blowing off in the bottom of the ninth, when Jackson Chourio, one strike away from defeat, turned around a 101-mph Mason Miller fastball for a game-winning, two-RBI single. Against the most formidable reliever in baseball, after trailing since the fourth batter of the game, the Brewers turned water into, well, beer, beating the Padres 4-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. It marked the first time in more than a month that the Padres have lost two games in a row.
American Family Field presents quite a beautiful backdrop when it’s open to the sky and full of natural light. It feels vibrant and alive. It’s also not the friendliest place for hitters, who get to shift their worries from the roof to the shadows. The 3:09 PM local start time meant that when Logan Henderson threw the first pitch of the game, his shadow, already much longer than his six-foot-tall frame, stretched all the way across the mound and onto the infield grass toward third base. It twitched and wriggled as he went into his delivery, as if it believed this might be its chance to escape once and for all.
No player was more grateful for the open sky than Ty France, who on Saturday night experienced an even more unfriendly side of American Family Field. As you surely know by now, France flew out to deep left field by way of a ricochet off something or other up there by the roof. There’s some debate as to whether that ball would have both cleared the fence and stayed fair, but regardless, France certainly played like a man with a score to settle. He went 2-for-3 with two RBI singles and a hit-by-pitch, pushing his batting average this postseason to a respectable .487.
Both teams made several impressive defensive plays. Chourio, Jackson Merrill, and Fernando Tatis Jr. made great catches in the outfield. Manny Machado turned back the clock to make great plays on both a slow roller and a hard grounder behind third base. David Hamilton made a sensational over-the-shoulder catch unusually deep down the left field line. Cooper Pratt climbed the ladder to snag a hot liner, looking for all the world like a spawning salmon with fantastic ball skills.
All the same, defensive miscues told the story of the game. The Brewers matched their season high with three errors. Two of the Padres’ three runs were unearned, and even the lone earned run would not have scored if not for a wild pitch. The Brewers notched one unearned run as well.
We should start, though, with the pitching matchup. You might recall Michael King’s most recent start. He carved up the Cubs in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. Apparently, the San Diego right-hander decided to chase that feeling. King retired the first 14 Brewers in order, striking out six on the day and allowing just one ball with an exit velocity above 88 mph. That one ball was hit 90 mph. Unfortunately for King, Brewers 15 through 17 gave him some trouble, but it was a remarkable performance. Sarah Langs noted that King became just the fourth pitcher ever with two no-hit bids of at least four innings in a single postseason. Unfortunately for King, the twists and turns that followed overshadowed his dominant showing.
For his part, Henderson certainly didn’t pitch badly, but the Padres didn’t wait long to get on top of him. He struck out the first two batters of the game, then, in a move that must have gratified Little League coaches everywhere, paid dearly for a two-out walk. Machado fell behind, then worked his way into a free pass. A wild pitch to France moved Machado into scoring position, and then France reminded us all why they call it that. He went with a two-strike fastball out over the plate, lining it over the second baseman for an RBI single.
Henderson didn’t allow a run in the second, but he did walk two batters, earning a visit from pitching coach Chris Hook, who hurried out to the mound at a much quicker clip than usual. Hook covered his mouth, so we don’t know exactly what words he used when he advised Henderson to maybe try throwing a strike or two, but he didn’t cover it that carefully, so we can say for certain that he said it very forcefully. Henderson indeed found the zone again, inducing a couple fly outs to end the frame and then setting the Padres down in order in the third.
By the fourth inning, the shadows had crept out to the mound, and the hitters, finally able to see the ball a bit better, made more solid contact. King had little trouble retiring the Brewers, but his command did start to wobble just a bit. In the fifth inning, Luis Campusano broke up Henderson’s streak of eight straight batters retired with a single into left field. Two batters later, Tatis chopped a ball right back up the middle that should have resulted in a double play. However, second baseman Brice Turang was in an awkward spot. He had to cross behind second base to field the ball, but he needed to stop his momentum and go back to step on the bag, then fire a strong throw to catch the speedy Tatis at first. Chopping his steps to thread that needle, Turang let the ball right through the wickets. Campusano advanced to third, then scored when Dustin Harris grounded into a fielder’s choice. San Diego led, 2-0, and King was the story, but only for a little while longer.
King got two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth, but his command continued to unravel. The Brewers notched three straight hits, halving the lead in the process. Christian Yelich broke up the no-hitter with a line drive into the right field corner, and Sal Frelick knocked him in with a line drive into left center. San Diego’s lead was down to 2-1. Pratt ripped another single through the right side, but King finished the inning without any further damage.
France led off the sixth by dropping his elbow down into the path of an inside changeup, and that was the end of Henderson’s night. He left in line for the loss, but just one of the two runs he allowed was earned. He allowed just two hits, though he walked three and hit one. It certainly wasn’t a bad playoff debut for the rookie. JoJo Romero and Abner Uribe finished out the inning.
The bottom of the sixth started off just like the top. King hit Chourio squarely in the back with a fastball, and with just 270 feet stretching between the Brewers and a tie ballgame, Craig Stammen pulled the plug. He brought in lefty Yuki Matsui, who retired the next three Brewers in order, though not without a scare. Jake Bauers, who led the Brewers this season with a 143 wRC+, just barely got under a fastball, launching a monster fly ball that died on the warning track. That closed the door on King. His final line: five innings, one earned run, six strikeouts, three hits, no walks, and one hit-by-pitch. He threw just 72 pitches, and although he was a bit less convincing in the fourth and fifth, he was truly dominant.
Uribe returned to pitch the seventh for the Brewers. He induced two grounders with his slider, but the second came very weakly off the bat of Tatis. Hamilton, rushing to give himself a chance to catch the speedy right fielder, bobbled the ball for Milwaukee’s third error of the game. Harris popped out to shallow left. The crowd chanted “Manny sucks!” as Uribe fell behind and walked the Padres third baseman. That brought up the unstoppable France, who scored Tatis with a seeing-eye single through the right side. Luckily for the Padres, Tatis scored before Machado got himself hosed at third to end the inning courtesy of Frelick. The Padres led 3-1, and it was starting to look like Miller Time in (the ballpark formerly known as) Miller Park.
Matsui returned to pitch the bottom of the seventh for the Padres, but he no longer had it, and the Brewers welcomed him with a couple rockets. Garrett Mitchell led off with a single up the middle at 110 mph, and then Yelich cranked a ball to deep center field at 106 mph. It looked for a moment like it was headed out in a hurry. Unfortunately for the Brewers, the ballpark was just big enough to hold the liner, and Merrill, positioned perfectly, leapt to snag it just in front of the wall. Matsui then walked Frelick to bring the winning run to the plate in the form of Pratt, but Stammen took the ball from his lefty and handed it to another pitcher who pitched in Game 1. Bradgley Rodriguez fell behind Pratt, worked his way back into a full count, and induced a fielder’s choice to shortstop. It was a weak chopper, and Bogaerts didn’t put much at all on his throw to second, which just barely beat Frelick to the bag. The Brewers had runners on first and third with two out, when American Family infield struck again.
Hamilton sent a weak grounder to to Jake Cronenworth at second, and his speed pressured Cronenworth into a bobble. The rushing Cronenworth never got a good handle on the ball, and threw it into the dugout. Mitchell scored to cut the lead to 3-2, and Frelick and Pratt advanced to second and third. It was the third unearned run of the game. That brought Chourio, who entered the game with a 186 career wRC+ in the postseason, to the plate. He needed just a single to give the Brewers the lead. All of a sudden, the setting sun shone brilliantly from center field, lighting up everything behind home plate, along with Chourio’s face. It looked like a sign from the heavens. Chourio sent yet another weak grounder to a middle infielder, but Bogaerts fielded it cleanly and fired to first just in time to catch the young speedster and hold onto the lead. If the Padres could have just found a way to keep the young Venezuelan star from getting to the plate again, they would be heading back home with a victory right now.
Aaron Ashby came in to pitch the eighth for the Brewers, and although he escaped unscathed, Milwaukee’s defensive woes continued. After Merrill greeted Ashby with a seeing-eye grounder through the right side, pinch-hitter Samad Taylor squared up and bunted the ball right back to Ashby for a sacrifice. Neither the first baseman Bauers nor the second baseman Turang covered first, but a Bogaerts strikeout and a Freddy Fermin double play salvaged the frame.
After what must have been the longest two innings of Stammen’s life, he was finally able to bring in Miller to face the heart of the Milwaukee lineup in the bottom of the eighth. Miller needed just 10 pitches to get through the inning, striking out two. Trevor Megill entered to pitch the top of the ninth for the Brewers, allowing one very loud out to Tatis but retiring the Padres in order.
Things went nuts in the ninth. Miller started by inducing a groundout, but he walked Yelich on five pitches and Frelick on six. The Brewers had the tying run on second and the winning run on first. Miller got Andrew Vaughn, who pinch-hit for Pratt, to fly out, and then Brewers manager Pat Murphy sent Gary Sánchez to the plate to pinch-hit for Hamilton.
At that point, Miller had thrown 28 pitches, but he still had plenty in the tank. He started Sánchez with a 103-mph fastball, but Sánchez had been paying attention. He never took the bat off his shoulder, and five pitches later, he walked as well. In fact, Vaughn’s fly out was the only swing the Brewers had taken in the inning to that point. Miller had walked the bases loaded, and now he had to face Chourio, who was once again up with the power to give his team the lead with a single. This one at-bat between two of the brightest young stars in baseball would decide the entire game.
Miller started Chourio with a fastball up and in at 101 mph, and Chourio swung through it; he wasn’t looking for a walk. Miller reached back for 102 mph, but he missed off the plate badly to even the count. According to Statcast, Chourio was worth 11 runs against four-seamers in 2026. Not only did that make it the pitch he was best against, it was the 22nd-highest total in baseball. He batted .331 against the four-seamers. But not every pitcher has Mason Miller’s fastball, and the fireballer was unafraid to go strength-on-strength. He blew another fastball right by Chourio, this one right down the middle at 102 mph. The count was 1-2. Miller needed one more strike to end the game. The next fastball came in at 104 mph, but it was low and outside, which gave Chourio just enough time to catch a piece of it. Finally, Miller tried a slider, but he buried it beneath the zone just a little too well, and Chourio didn’t seem to have much trouble laying off it.
The 2-2 pitch told the tale. Miller challenged Chourio with another 101-mph fastball, this one out over the plate, and Chourio turned it around at 110 mph. The ball shot back up the middle on a line, just barely escaping the outstretched glove of a diving Cronenworth. Yelich scored and Frelick rounded third. The ball was hit plenty hard and Merrill charged, firing a one-hopper to Fermin at home, but it was just a foot or two late, just a foot or two up the first base line, and Fermin couldn’t pick it cleanly. In just his third major league season, Chourio had performed yet another playoff miracle.
The Brewers and Padres will reconvene in San Diego on Tuesday for Game 3. The Padres will need to take three straight to keep this season, the last several months of which they have spent as the winningest team in baseball, from ending. In so doing, they will have to overcome both the befuddlement of the roof game and one of the more gut-wrenching losses in recent memory. They squandered a brilliant start from their ace, a revenge game from France, and a whole lot of help from the Milwaukee defense. Their unsinkable closer sprung a dozen leaks when it mattered the most. This series is Milwaukee’s to lose.
