Brewers Eliminate Padres 3-1 in Game 4, Advancing to NLCS

Q: How might one leaping wall catch by Garrett Mitchell have entirely rewritten the Brewers' postseason destiny?

Garrett Mitchell’s catch may have been the single play that kept Milwaukee’s entire October path intact. When Manny Machado drove a ball to deep center in the eighth, the Padres were down 3-1 and had their clearest chance to change the game. If that ball clears the wall instead of landing in Mitchell’s glove, it likely becomes a game-tying two-run homer. Instead of protecting a two-run lead, Milwaukee would have been in a 3-3 game on the road, with all the pressure of its 12-game postseason road losing streak still hanging over it. That matters because the Brewers were trying to avoid not only a tied game, but also a Game 5. The searched reporting made clear that a fifth game would have forced major ripple effects: Milwaukee would have needed ace Jacob Misiorowski for that elimination game at home, which in turn could have pushed him out of the early part of the NLCS. A Game 5 also would have reopened the possibility of the Padres completing a comeback after already extending the series in Game 3. Mitchell’s grab therefore did more than save two runs. It preserved the lead for Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill to finish the clincher, ended Milwaukee’s postseason road skid, eliminated San Diego on the spot, and sent the Brewers to the NLCS against the Dodgers without exhausting their pitching plan. One defensive play effectively protected both the series win and Milwaukee’s next-round setup.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 8

San Diego’s season ended Wednesday night with a 3-1 home loss in NLDS Game 4, sending Milwaukee on to face the Dodgers in the NLCS.
One Fernando Tatis Jr. solo homer in the third was the Padres’ only run and final hit, after they stranded the bases loaded in the first and went silent for the last six innings.
Milwaukee built the lead on Garrett Mitchell’s RBI single in the third, Jackson Chourio’s two-out RBI single in the fifth and Sal Frelick’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Aaron Ashby held San Diego hitless over three relief innings, and Trevor Megill struck out the side in the ninth after Mitchell robbed Manny Machado of a potential game-tying drive in the eighth.