\u2014 ESPN.com.mx (@ESPNmx) October 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n And Megill, whose 99 mph four-seam fastball France launched, recalled thinking this:<\/p>\n \u201cOh, crap.\u201d<\/p>\n While Machado and France had solid suggestions about how all the technology in use at ballparks today could allow for rulings on such hits to be made differently, it wasn\u2019t clear that would have helped this particular play swing in the Padres\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n The projected distance on France\u2019s fly ball, according to StatCast, was 325 feet. That makes it far different than the ball Xander Bogaerts hit that struck the catwalk at Tropicana Field on Aug. 28. That ball, which shot straight down and was caught in foul territory by Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, had a projected distance of 389 feet.<\/p>\n France\u2019s ball was backspun and seemed to be carrying when it struck the cable, which suggests it would have made up the ground it needed had its flight not been interrupted.<\/p>\n But there has never been a home run at American Family Field with a launch angle higher than 46 degrees. Since StatCast began tracking launch angle in 2015, there have been just 10 home runs (not including inside-the-park homers) hit in any MLB ballpark with a launch angle of 49 degrees or higher.<\/p>\n The man who caught the ball \u2014 on the dirt about six feet in front of the white \u201c342\u201d on the left field wall \u2014 maintained it was never going to be a homer. A review of his route and the speed at which he was running support his contention that he did not consider it deep enough to clear the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I had a chance on that ball kind of the whole time off the bat,\u201d Chourio said. \u201cThen the only thing I kind of realized (was that) it changed direction a little bit. But I thought I had a bead on it for the majority of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n For the record, it was Major League Baseball that determined the roof would be closed since it was a postseason game. The Brewers make that call in the regular season.<\/p>\n Regardless, this was a random event.<\/p>\n No longtime observer of games at American Family Field could recall it happening.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has never even crossed my mind that a ball might hit something here,\u201d Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers said.<\/p>\n When the ground rules were being discussed before the game and home plate umpire Nick Mahrley brought up rules about balls hitting any portion of roof apparatus, Brewers third base coach Matt Erickson said he had never seen such a thing in his six seasons.<\/p>\n The group laughed, according to Padres manager Craig Stammen, as a prediction was jokingly made that now it would happen in the game.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then it did,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cUnbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n It was crazy. It might have been unfortunate. It may have prevented the kind of late comeback the Padres pulled off so often this season.<\/p>\n But, as Machado said, \u201cWe didn\u2019t lose the game there.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a lot that happened before the ninth inning, including way back in the second when the Padres scored two runs off Jacob Misiorowski but failed in a chance to bury him.<\/p>\n And, as is detailed in my game story (here<\/a>), the Brewers\u2019 really good bullpen outdueled the Padres\u2019 really good bullpen while the Brewers got the big hits the Padres did not.<\/p>\n Good, but \u2026<\/p>\n The Padres had an impressive approach against Misiorowski from the start.<\/p>\n After the 24-year-old right-hander began the game with the fastest pitch (104.8 mph) thrown in a postseason game since at least 2008 and struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. on four pitches, the Padres made Misiorowski work.<\/p>\n Dustin Harris fouled off three two-strike pitches before grounding out on the ninth pitch of his at-bat. Manny Machado fouled off two two-strike pitches before hitting a double on the eighth pitch of his at-bat. On Misiorowski\u2019s 25th pitch of the inning, France struck out to strand Machado.<\/p>\n In the second inning, after the Padres had scored two runs on three singles and a fielder\u2019s choice, it was Machado who couldn\u2019t get a two-out hit.<\/p>\n With the bases loaded and Misiorowski 32 pitches into the inning and left-hander DL Hall warming up in the bullpen, Machado hit the first pitch he saw to shortstop for an inning-ending groundout.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kind of could have put a little dagger in it,\u201d Machado said. \u201cWe could have put some more runs up on the board, and we didn\u2019t and kind of gave him a little bit more adrenaline to come out there and he was kind of lights out after that.\u201d<\/p>\n Misiorowski, who threw five pitches at 104 mph or faster in the first inning, topped 102 just three times among the 21 four-seam fastballs he threw in the second. Bogaerts singled on a slider. Ethan Salas and Luis Campusano singled on cutters.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no high thought with it,\u201d Misiorowski said of his incorporating more breaking balls. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to battle them. And they were fouling s\u2014 off. And you\u2019ve kind of got to make an adjustment and try and go soft. And they\u2019re fouling soft off. You kind of just do something until it sticks. \u2026 Those guys had an approach, and they stuck to it. They did their job, and I had to find a way to battle back.\u201d<\/p>\n Miziorowski got through the third inning on nine pitches. And after the Brewers tied the game in the bottom of the third, he took another 14 pitches to get through the fourth.<\/p>\n The 88 pitches were the second most he had ever thrown in a start in which he did not make it past the fourth inning.<\/p>\n In all, the Padres fouled off 30 of Misiorowski\u2019s pitches, the most in the first four innings of a postseason game since such things began being tracked in 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously not the way I wanted it to go,\u201d Misiorowski said. \u201cWould have liked to go a little deeper for our bullpen. The job still got done. We still got a \u2018W\u2019 at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Five Brewers relief pitchers covered the final five innings, and they made the pitches that saved the game.<\/p>\n Jackson Merrill made the third out on fly balls in three different innings \u2014 with runners at second and third in the fifth, with the bases loaded in the seventh and with a runner on first in the ninth. Tatis struck out with runners at second and third in the eighth.<\/p>\n In all, the Padres were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The 12 runners they left on base were the third most they had ever stranded in a postseason game.<\/p>\n Surprise sock<\/p>\n Padres\u2019 pitchers reward for getting past the Cubs, who led the major leagues in runs scored during the regular season, was to face the Brewers, who ranked second.<\/p>\n The Brewers just scored their abundance of runs differently. Their official slogan is \u201dWin Our Way.\u201d And that means by forcing the action with bunts, plate discipline and aggressive baserunning.<\/p>\n They ranked first in on-base percentage, first in extra bases taken on a single, second in bunt hits, fifth in sacrifice bunts and fifth in stolen bases. And 29th in home runs.<\/p>\n Yet two home runs accounted for all their scoring in Game 1.<\/p>\n Jeff Sanders wrote about that in his notebook (here<\/a>) from last night, which included quotes from Robbie Ray and Adrian Morej\u00f3n, who surrendered the homers.<\/p>\n That was really the difference as two of the best bullpens went back and forth for more than half the game after Ray was lifted in the third inning and the Padres jettisoned Misiorowski after four innings.<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime you score first in a playoff game you feel really good about it, especially the type of pitching staff we have,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cWe just got beat by a couple home runs tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael King, who shut out the Cubs for seven innings on Tuesday after turning in 18 quality starts in the regular season, starts Game 2 for the Padres. Logan Henderson, who had seven quality starts among his 18 starts this season, goes today for the Brewers. Still, the nature of the postseason makes it likely we see plenty more of the two bullpens.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can look at the five-game series, you have the two off days in between if it goes five games,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cSo you can use your best guys pretty often. They did the same thing. They had their best starter going today. We have our best starter going tomorrow. They\u2019ve got a pretty good starter going also. But in the end, both teams feel like their strength is their bullpen, and I\u2019m sure they\u2019re going to use it the same way that we\u2019re gonna use ours.\u201d<\/p>\n King needed<\/p>\n Sanders wrote (here<\/a>) about King starting Game 2. The story had quotes from King and Stammen from before yesterday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n Afterward, it became even more important that the Padres have their No.1 starter going in a game in which they will be attempting to avoid returning home down 0-2.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got King on the mound, and we\u2019re confident in him,\u201d Machado said. \u201cWe\u2019ll go out there and try to get back to San Diego 1-1.\u201d<\/p>\n King allowed one run in 5\u2154 innings here on May 13.<\/p>\n Tidbits<\/p>\n Walker Buehler did not start yesterday because he was becoming a father for the second time. He was placed on the paternity list and replaced on the roster by Randy V\u00e1squez. As explained in my story (here<\/a>) from yesterday morning, Buehler will be back before Game 3. All right, that\u2019s it for me. Earlier game today (1 p.m. PT).<\/p>\n Talk to you tomorrow.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/penrank_d4b8fa.png\")
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\nBogaerts was 1-for-3 with a walk last night and is 5-for-14 this postseason and 9-for-23 over the past two postseasons. You can read Sanders\u2019 notebook from Friday (here<\/a>) about what Bogaerts is doing differently at the plate and how it has helped.
\nSanders\u2019 game preview (here<\/a>) from yesterday discussed the reasoning behind the decision to go with Campusano at designated hitter instead of Gavin Sheets. Campusano\u2019s single in the second inning drove in the Padres\u2019 first run.
\nSalas was 1-for-3 last night. After going hitless in his first 15 big-league at-bats, Salas has 11 hits in his past 28 at-bats (.393).
\nMachado and Harris, the Padres\u2019 second and third hitters, were both 2-for-4 with a walk last night. France, the cleanup hitter, was 1-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. But the bookends for that trio was a combined 1-for-10, as Tatis went 1-for-5 and Merrill was 0-for-5.
\nThe 64 pitches thrown at least 100 mph last night are more than had been thrown in a postseason series since at least 2008. Yes, in a series. And Mason Miller didn\u2019t even pitch.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/64at100.png\")
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