NLDS: Long Balls Put Brewers Past Padres

William Contreras of the Brewers celebrating while running out a homer against the Padres in Game One of the 2026 NLDS

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

October 4, 2026

Brewers 3, Padres 2 — NLDS Game One

Two homers — one from Jackson Chourio and the other from William Contreras — gave the Milwaukee Brewers a thrilling come-from-behind 3–2 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game One of the NL Division Series Saturday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

Neither starting pitcher — Jacob Misiorowski for the Brewers and Robbie Ray for the Padres — made it to the fifth inning. Each team’s relief unit pitched well — 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball from the Padres and five scoreless innings from the Brewers.

Padres – Brewers Game Summary

The Padres took a 2–0 lead in the second. Consecutive singles by Xander Bogaerts and Ethan Salas put two on with nobody out for Luis Campusano. Campusano stroked a single to right, scoring Bogaerts as Salas hustled to third. Jake Cronenworth hit a broken-bat bouncer to first, which Jake Bauers gloved and fired home. Contreras could not hang onto the throw, which a diving Salas had beaten anyway.

The Brewers tied it up in the bottom of the third. Garrett Mitchell beat out a leadoff broken-bat nubber to the shortstop. Two batters later, with one out, Jackson Chourio blasted a no-doubt homer to left-center, tying the game at two.

The teams traded zeroes until the bottom of the seventh. On 3–2 with two outs — and facing elite set-up man Adrian Morejon — William Contreras launched a solo homer to right-center, giving the Brewers a 3–2 lead. In the eighth, the Padres got the tying run to third, but Brewers closer Trevor Megill entered the game and struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to leave the runner stranded.

The Hand of Ueck?

One inning later, the Padres got a leadoff single from Dustin Harris. Manny Machado struck out, taking the first two strikes before swinging and missing the third. Ty France hit a towering fly to left that appeared to be heading out for either a home run or a long foul ball. But it hit the roof in fair territory and fell straight downward, where Jackson Chourio made the catch. Since the ball hit the roof in fair territory, it remained live, so Chourio’s catch made it an out.

“…Ueck decided to put his hand on it and swat it down so Chourio could catch it,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters, referring to legendary Brewers announcer Bob Uecker, who passed January 16, 2025. “So thanks, Ueck.”

Jackson Merrill, up next, lined to right, giving the Brewers a 1–0 series lead.

What Went Right for the Brewers

Did Not Stay Behind for Long

The Brewers fell behind in the second but tied the game up in the third, meaning the only inning that ended with them behind was the second.

Murphy praised his team as well as his opponents for their efforts. “Our guys, we played every pitch. We played hard. They (the Padres) got some hits and capitalized on some things. They got a couple of infield hits that scored a run. We misplayed a ball at first, scored a run. I’m not taking anything away from them. They swing the bat well, too. But I mean we hit six, seven balls on the screws that got caught. So this wasn’t a give-away game.

“I feel like we earned it, I really do. I take nothing away from our guys. We earned it — we weren’t perfect, but we swung the bat pretty darn well.”

The Long Ball

All three of the Brewers runs came from home runs — two from the Chourio bomb, one from the Contreras blast. This was counter to their regular season, where they finished last in the league in home runs.

“I like that today that’s how the game shook out and we were able to win like that,” Contreras told reporters after the game. “And we were able to show that we were able to play that game as well.”

Chourio’s homer was his sixth career postseason homer, all with the Brewers. With that dinger, he took sole possession of first place on the franchise postseason homer list. “It makes me very, very happy to know that,” the 22-year-old Chourio told reporters after the game. “I just hope that I hit a lot more.”

Relief Pitching

Antonio Senzatela, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, DL Hall, and Trevor Megill combined for five scoreless relief innings. Collectively, they allowed five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. Ashby inherited two runners, Hall inherited three, and Megill inherited two, but none scored.

“They have been sensational for us,” Murphy said of the quintet. “And when you have all rookie pitchers, you’re going to have a heavy load out of the bullpen. These guys have taken on that heavy load and taken pride in it.”

What Went Wrong for the Brewers

Short Outing for Starting Pitcher

It did not hurt the Brewers results-wise Saturday, but Misiorowski only lasted four innings. To get through 18 batters and record 12 outs, it took 88 pitches.

“Obviously not the way I wanted it to go,” Misiorowski told reporters in the postgame press conference. “Would have liked to go a little deeper for our bullpen. The job still got done. We still got a W at the end of the day.”

In the four innings, Misiorowski still managed to strike out six and only walk one. He allowed two runs on four hits.

Missed Opportunities

The Brewers did push three runs across, but they could have had more. Of the nine runners they left on base, five were in scoring position. In the third, they left the bases loaded.

What Went Right for the Padres

Chased Starting Pitcher Early

The Padres made Misiorowski throw a lot of pitches, fouling off over 30 of them. Of the 88 pitches he threw, 64 were strikes, and 41 of the 64 were from contact. This greatly shortened his outing inning-wise. “Those guys had an approach and they stuck to it,” Misiorowski said. “They did their job and I had to find a way to battle back.”

What Went Wrong for the Padres

Starting Pitching

Robbie Ray was ineffective, only lasting 2 2/3 innings and leaving the bases loaded for reliever Bradgley Rodriguez, who bailed him out with a groundball force play at second. Ray allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout. One of the hits from the 14 batters he faced was the two-run homer by Chourio.

Missed Opportunities

The Padres left 12 runners on base. Eight were in scoring position. They left the bases loaded in the second and seventh, and in the fifth, they left runners on second and third.

Bad Luck with the Roof

As mentioned before, the deep Ty France fly that seemed destined to be either a home run or long foul hit the roof. Since it was in fair ground, it was live. Therefore, when Chourio caught it, it was an out.

“Unfortunately, a bad break for us,” manager Craig Stammen told reporters in the postgame press conference. “Looked like it was a possible home run. Just didn’t go our way.”

The Padres had another ball hit a roof in the regular season, August 28 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Bogaerts hit a towering fly headed for the left-field seats. But it hit one of the “live-ball” catwalk rings and dropped almost straight down. Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero caught it, so instead of a solo home run, Bogaerts had a flyball out.

Later in that series, the Padres had what they thought was a two-run win vanish within seconds on yet another fly ball to left field. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Caminero on first, and two outs, Jonny DeLuca hit a deep fly to left off Padres closer extraordinaire Mason Miller. Samad Taylor, on a full sprint, caught the ball on the warning track. However, when he hit the fence immediately after catching the ball, his glove fell open, and the ball fell into the seats for a game-tying home run. The Rays ultimately won in extra innings.

Quotes

“I’m telling you, Ueck reached up there and knocked that ball down like a basketball center rejecting a ball, you know what I mean? I think Ueck was involved.” — Brewers manager Pat Murphy on the Ty France fly that hit the roof

“I love the way he plays the game. For me, I think he’s definitely someone to follow his lead and to look up to and the way that he does play the game.” — Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio on what catcher William Contreras means to the team

“Second time that’s happened this year to the Padres. We should be able to bounce back just fine from it…. I mean, all experiences help you handle the next experience. So the fact that we’ve already (gone) through it makes us laugh again and say, all right, buckle up, let’s get after it tomorrow. And I think that’s what our season’s been like. Those guys have a great attitude about it. They’re ready to go for tomorrow already.” — Padres manager Craig Stammen on Ty France’s flyball to left hitting the roof and being caught for an out

Looking Ahead

DL Hall earned the win as Adrian Morejon took the loss, both in relief. Megill notched a four-out save.

The Brewers and Padres will play Game Two of the best-of-five NLDS Sunday afternoon at American Family Field in Milwaukee. It will be a battle of right-handers, Michael King (12–10, 3.21 ERA in regular season) for the Padres and rookie Logan Henderson (11–3, 2.47 ERA) for the Brewers. First pitch will be at 3:08 pm Central/1:08 pm Pacific.