MILWAUKEE — The Padres made the somewhat surprising decision to go with left-hander Robbie Ray for Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

He will take the mound for his third career postseason start Saturday evening after the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski pitches the top of the first inning.

Two of the Brewers’ best hitters — Jake Bauers and Brice Turang — bat from the left side. But Ray has actually been slightly more effective against right-handed hitters this season, and Bauers has been slightly better against lefties. Turang has been far better against right-handed pitching.

Presumably, Padres manager Craig Stammen will be coming out to get the ball from Ray at the first sign of trouble, because that is how playoff games are managed and both teams have an excellent stable of relievers.

“In the postseason, every manager is going to be a little more aggressive with their bullpen,” Stammen said. “It’s nice to be aggressive when you know you have a good bullpen. I’m sure (Brewers manager Pat Murphy) feels the same way that I do about ours.”

Saturday was Walker Buehler’s turn in the rotation, and his quality start (six innings, one run) against the Brewers in August seemed to make him a strong candidate to start Game 1.

Stammen confirmed Michael King will start Sunday’s Game 2, and it is highly likely that Nick Pivetta will pitch Game 3 on Tuesday in San Diego.

“Walker will play a big role in this series at some point,” Stammen said. “I don’t know when that is. But he’s got such a playoff pedigree that it will be hard for us to leave him out and not give him a chance to put his mark on the series.”

Ray, who turned 35 on Thursday, finished 2026 with a 3.59 ERA, which ranked 14th in the National League. But he had a 5.09 ERA in nine starts with the Padres. His walk rate, batting average allowed and slugging percentage allowed were all significantly higher after the Padres acquired him at the trade deadline.

“As far as how far he goes or how long, he’ll determine a lot of that (by) how well he pitches,” Stammen said. “We know with Robbie, he can be erratic at times. If he’s throwing strikes, I feel good about Robbie being in there.”

Even when at his best, Ray allows a fair amount of traffic. But he limits damage, and playoff baseball is not a beauty contest. For the starting pitcher, working a postseason is more than ever about allowing fewer runs than the other starter.

Ray’s final regular season start provided a glimpse of what the Padres are looking for Saturday, as he allowed the Dodgers one run in 3⅓ innings while walking just one batter. He left with the Padres ahead, and they went on to win.

“(Ray faced) an offense that’s very patient, much like the Brewers, and he’s able to throw strikes and get us into the game in a good spot where we could go to our bullpen,” Stammen said. “The things the Dodgers did against them, they fought a bunch of pitches off and raised his pitch count up. It’ll be a similar type of game. He’s going to have to throw strikes. I trust that he will. He’s a veteran of Major League Baseball, and he’s a professional out-getter. And I feel good about Robbie being in this position.”

Speaking of that start, Ray said: “I feel like my stuff was really good that day. … They made me work for it. I expect no less from this ballclub. The biggest thing is setting the tone, coming out early and setting the tone throwing strikes, getting ahead of guys. I think for me, it will be a very similar attack. You’ve got to … trust your defense. Make them put the ball in play and see what happens.”