Padres avoid NLDS sweep as they take Game 3 from Brewers in 4-3 win

They keep their Postseason run alive as the franchise still aims for their first-ever World Series title. Teams that are down 2-1 in the Division Series are 13-52 (25%) all-time during the 2-2-1 format era (23-61 in all best-of-five series throughout MLB history). 

The Brewers have now lost an MLB record 12 straight Postseason games on the road, bringing their all-time road record to 6-24. 

Full recap and highlights

There wasn't much going on through the first two innings of action as Milwaukee's Christian Yelich had the only hit between the two teams. It wasn't until the bottom of the third that we finally saw some scoring. 

Following a Samad Taylor single and stolen bases, then a Jake Cronenworth sacrifice bunt, Fernando Tatis Jr. scored Taylor home from third with a groundout to make it 1-0. 

Jackson Merrill followed up with a single and a stolen base himself before Manny Machado brought him home with a single of his own to make it 2-0.

Brewers starting pitcher Dustin May got himself out of the inning, effectively ending his night on the mound. May finished with two earned runs on three hits and two walks, along with three strikeouts. 

Moving into the top of the fourth, the Brewers responded. 

Star catcher William Contreras launched a solo home run to deep left for his second of the Postseason to slash the Padres' lead in half. 

JoJo Romero came on in relief for May in the top of the fourth and left unscathed, leaving the Brewers wide open for an opportunity to tie things up in the bottom half of the inning. 

And so they did. 

Joey Ortiz moved Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt over to second and third with a sac-bunt, forcing Padres starter Nick Pivetta's night to be over. He was done after 4.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts. 

Jason Adam got the call to face Milwaukee superstar Jackson Chourio. 

And Chourio pulled through in the clutch as always with a surpisingly shallow sac-fly that still managed to score Pratt thanks to his incredible effort.

After walking Jake Bauers and giving up a single to Contreras, Adam's night was over as the Padres brought in Yuki Matsui with bases loaded and two outs. 

This time, it was the Padres' bullpen to come through in the clutch. Matsui forced Bryce Turang to fly out to end the inning as the Padres faithful were sent into a frenzy shortly after for a big reason. 

Cronenworth stepped into the box batting lead-off in the bottom of the fifth inning. And all it took was the first pitch from Romero for Cronenworth to give the Padres a 3-2 lead thanks to a solo home run. 

Before his at-bat, Cronenworth was 1-for-13 at the plate this Postseason. It marked just his second home run of the entire season against a lefty and the second extra-base hit for the Padres all series, the other being a double from Machado in Game 1. 

It broke a 21-inning streak without an extra-base hit. 

Things got dicey again for Matsui in the top of the sixth inning. Runners on first and second advanced after Matsui forced Frelick to ground out to first, putting both runners in scoring position with two outs. 

That ultimately ended Matsui's night as the Padres brought in Bradgley Rodriguez to face Ortiz. 

On a 3-2 count with the crowd roaring, Rodriguez forced Ortiz to fly out to Tatis Jr. in right field. By then, the Padres' pitching had left five Brewers runners stranded in the past two innings. 

San Diego tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth after Miguel Andujar hit an infield single off a broken back that forced Pratt to commit an error throwing to first, which allowed Xander Bogaerts to score from third to make it 4-2. 

Jase Bowen was brought in as a pinch runner for Andujar, but was caught stealing almost immediately after Contreras gunned him down at second to send the game into the seventh inning. 

Contreras became a major help in the next half inning. After Rodriguez struck out Chourio and Bauers to start the seventh, Contreras and Bryce Turang, who finally earned his first Postseason hit, both put up a pair of base hits. 

Christian Yelich followed suit with a single to left that fell just short of a diving Bowen in left field to bring Contreras home to cut the lead to 4-3. It marked his first Postseason RBI since 2018 (87 plate appearances). 

But Rodriguez kept the game within one after striking out Garrett Mitchell to end the top half of the seventh.

DL Hall (MIL) and Michael King (SD) both tossed hitless innings after being brought on in relief as the game headed to the bottom of the eighth inning.

King walked Contreras and Turang with one out in the top of the ninth, putting every Padres fan on edge, but still finished things off thanks to an incredible double play by Bogaerts at short.

Game 4 between the Padres and Brewers is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th in San Diego.