Padres Blow Late Lead as Mason Miller Falters vs. Brewers

San Diego entered October looking like one of baseball’s hottest clubs, but the Padres now find themselves on the edge of elimination after a painful 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. After closing the regular season by winning 20 of their final 23 games and then sweeping the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card round, the Padres carried real momentum into this matchup. Two games into the series, that surge has vanished.

The defeat on Sunday put San Diego in a 2-0 hole, leaving the Padres with no margin for error as the series shifts to Petco Park for Game 3 on Tuesday. They now need three consecutive wins to keep their season alive.

For much of Game 2, the Padres appeared positioned to even the series. They grabbed an early lead with RBI contributions from Ty France and Dustin Harris, giving the offense enough support to put pressure on Milwaukee. The Brewers chipped away instead of fading, getting an RBI single from Sal Frelick and benefiting from a San Diego fielding error that helped keep the game within reach.

That set the stage for the game’s decisive late innings. Padres manager Craig Stammen turned to All-Star closer Mason Miller for a six-out save, a choice he said had been part of the plan. Miller handled the eighth inning efficiently, needing only 12 pitches to retire the side and appearing fully in control.

The ninth inning was a different story. Miller did not allow a hit before the decisive moment, but his command deserted him. He issued three walks, loading the bases and creating the opening Milwaukee needed. Jackson Chourio then delivered the walk-off two-run single that ended the game and sent the Brewers to a commanding series lead.

Afterward, Miller did not try to soften his responsibility for the loss. "Terrible," he said when describing his outing. He acknowledged that the Padres were in position to leave Milwaukee with the series tied, but instead were heading home in a deep hole because he failed to finish the job.

Miller also pointed to the self-inflicted nature of the collapse. "The cardinal rule is pretty much: You don't beat yourself. And I beat myself today," he said. "I mean, a base hit with nobody on doesn't win them the game. A base hit after you walk the bases loaded does."

Stammen defended the decision to ask Miller for two innings, saying the top of Milwaukee’s lineup in the eighth helped drive that call. He added that the club had already been considering a six-out appearance from Miller before the game and that the quick eighth inning made the plan feel even more reasonable. In Stammen’s view, the issue was not workload as much as Miller’s inability to consistently find the strike zone in the ninth.

The result is a crushing missed opportunity for a Padres team with World Series ambitions. San Diego had a winnable playoff game in hand, only to let it slip away through three costly walks in the final inning. In the postseason, those mistakes are often impossible to overcome, and Milwaukee capitalized with the sharper finish.

Now the pressure shifts to Petco Park. Down 2-0 in the series, the Padres must respond immediately or see a promising October run end almost as quickly as it began.