Brewers eliminate Padres with 3-1
win in Game 4, advance to NLCS rematch with Dodgers
[October 08, 2026]
By GREG BEACHAM
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Although outfielder Garrett Mitchell gracefully
accepted congratulations for robbing Manny Machado of a tying home
run late in the Milwaukee Brewers’ Division Series-clinching
victory, he clearly wasn’t all that impressed with himself.
To Mitchell, that dramatic play was just the predictable result of
the same daily preparation and meticulous execution that made
Milwaukee the majors’ best team throughout the regular season — and
which has now sent the Brewers roaring back to the National League
Championship Series.
Mitchell tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the fifth inning
before making a pivotal catch on Machado’s drive to the wall in the
eighth, and the Brewers finished off the San Diego Padres with a 3-1
victory Wednesday night, winning their best-of-five series in four
games.
When Machado stepped to the plate, Mitchell was already shaded to
right-center, thanks to the Brewers’ scouting report. He coolly
tracked the 406-foot fly off the bat, and he already knew the wall
was quite short in that part of Petco Park, so he realized he would
only need to reach up to catch the ball.
“I think we have a different type of confidence and belief in
ourselves together as a team,” Mitchell said. “It’s just like a
quiet, subtle confidence. It’s not showboaty. It's just that
everyone believes.”
The Brewers pride themselves on being ready to handle anything —
even something wild enough to silence a roaring sellout crowd in San
Diego during the heat of October.
“Just got a good jump off the bat," Mitchell said amid the Brewers'
beer-drenched postgame celebration in the visitors' clubhouse. "When
I got to the wall, I just had to stay composed and make the catch. I
didn’t really have to jump. I knew the wall isn’t as high as at
other fields.”
Mitchell also drove in Sal Frelick with Milwaukee’s first run as the
Brewers snapped their 12-game postseason road losing streak since
2018 and reached the team's fifth League Championship Series.
“Just so proud of these guys,” Frelick said. “After the first (loss
in Game 3), it really starts to creep in that you don’t want to go
back for a Game 5. Really proud of these guys for stepping up today
and getting the job done.”
After fending off the surging Padres in four tight games decided by
a combined five runs, the 103-win Brewers will get an NLCS rematch
with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who eliminated Atlanta on Wednesday.
The Dodgers swept Milwaukee last October on the way to their second
consecutive World Series title.
“Why wouldn't you want another chance to go at it (with the Dodgers)
after the way it happened last year?” asked Mitchell, an Orange
County native and UCLA product. “I don't think that's any more
pressure on us. It's just ... let's see what we can do.”
The Milwaukee formula
One night after the Padres avoided elimination in Game 3, Milwaukee
claimed its first road playoff win since the 2018 NLCS by sticking
to its season-long formula for success.
While four Brewers pitchers combined on a three-hitter and the
defense made nearly every big play, Milwaukee’s lineup calmly worked
counts, pounded 10 hits through the Padres’ defense and manufactured
enough runs to head home smiling.
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Milwaukee Brewers players celebrate after the team defeated the San
Diego Padres in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Diego, to advance to the National
League Championship Series. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
“After yesterday, the energy in the clubhouse was
still good,” Mitchell said. “Nobody was pressing. We were just
treating it like another day, treating it like we have nothing to
lose. We just had to go out there and play our brand of baseball,
and that starts with quality at-bats, getting on base, putting
pressure on teams, and we did that today.”
Game 2 hero Jackson Chourio capped his high-impact series by driving
in Mitchell to become the Brewers’ career leader in postseason RBIs
at just 22 years old. Chourio has 17 RBIs, including six in this
series, in 16 playoff games.
Padres' offense struggles
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a 429-foot homer on an otherwise tepid
offensive night for the Padres, who repeatedly tested the majors’
best regular-season team before falling short of only the fourth
NLCS appearance in team history.
“It was unfortunate, man,” Machado said of his long flyout. “He made
a nice play. I should have hit it harder. Two more inches, that ball
may have been a homer.”
After sitting below .500 and in 11th place in the NL in late July,
San Diego roared into the first wild-card spot and then swept the
Cubs in the Wild Card Series last week. The Padres had won 19 of 22
before losing three of four to Milwaukee.
Starters gone early
Brewers starter and former Padres draft pick Robert Gasser threw
four innings of three-hit ball, but Tatis ended his 1-for-19 skid
since San Diego's playoff opener with a long shot to center in the
third. It was the longest homer ever hit in the postseason at Petco
Park by a San Diego player.
Padres starter Walker Buehler yielded just three hits and a run, but
manager Craig Stammen replaced him with Game 1 starter Robbie Ray
after William Contreras’ leadoff single in the fourth.
Mitchell then stroked a mild liner perfectly over first base and
into the right-field corner leading off the fifth, and he scored on
Chourio's single through the drawn-in infield. Chourio surpassed
Ryan Braun for the most postseason RBIs in Brewers history.
Jake Bauers singled leading off the sixth and went to third on
Cooper Pratt's ground-rule double before scoring on Frelick's
sacrifice fly.
After Mitchell’s catch on Machado’s fly, second baseman Brice Turang
ended the eighth with an acrobatic catch of Ty France’s tailing
popup in foul ground.
Up next
The Brewers host the Dodgers in Game 1 on Sunday with ace Jacob
Misiorowski almost certainly lined up to start. Milwaukee is four
wins from only the second World Series berth in team history.
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