Sports · NEWS EXPLAINER
Brewers beat Padres 3–2 in NLDS opener with late roof catch
Two homers and five scoreless bullpen innings gave Milwaukee a 1–0 series lead. Ty France’s ninth-inning fly ball hit the roof and was caught for the second out.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 3–2 at American Family Field on Saturday, October 3, taking a 1–0 lead in their National League Division Series. Jackson Chourio and William Contreras supplied all three runs with home runs. Milwaukee’s bullpen then protected the lead through a ninth inning that included an unusual catch after a ball struck the roof.
Two home runs reverse a 2–0 deficit
San Diego scored twice in the second inning. Luis Campusano singled home Xander Bogaerts, then Ethan Salas scored on Jake Cronenworth’s fielder’s choice. The Padres had a 2–0 lead before Milwaukee answered in the bottom of the third.
With Garrett Mitchell on base, Chourio hit a two-run homer to tie the game. The score remained 2–2 until Contreras homered off Adrian Morejon in the seventh. Those two swings produced every Brewers run: two to erase the deficit and one to take the lead.
The bullpen covers 15 outs
Misiorowski needed 88 pitches to finish four innings. He allowed four hits and two runs, with one walk and six strikeouts. That left 15 outs for the bullpen, which used Antonio Senzatela, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, DL Hall and Megill to keep San Diego from scoring again.
The scoreless work included several escapes. Hall retired Merrill with the bases loaded to end the seventh. In the eighth, Megill entered with two outs and runners at the corners, then struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. He stayed for the ninth and earned the save by recording four outs in total.
Why the roof contact produced an out
France batted in the ninth with a runner on first and one out. His fly ball struck the roof structure before Chourio caught it in left field. American Family Field’s ground rules keep a ball in play when it contacts the roof, a roof truss or a roof cable above fair territory. A catch can therefore retire the batter; contact above foul territory makes the ball dead.
San Diego challenged whether the contact had occurred in foul territory, but the call stood. France’s flyout became the inning’s second out. The ruling established the out, without resolving where the ball would have landed unobstructed. Merrill then lined out to right fielder Luis Lara, completing the win.
Game 2 offers San Diego a chance to level
MLB’s current schedule lists Game 2 at American Family Field on Sunday, October 4, at 4 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Central and 1 p.m. Pacific. That is 20:00 UTC on Sunday. The listing is a scheduled start time, with San Diego again visiting Milwaukee.
The Brewers need two more wins to advance from this best-of-five series. Their opening win came from a compact scoring attack and an extended relief effort: two homers supplied the offense, while five pitchers handled the innings after Misiorowski left. San Diego can bring the series back to 1–1 in the next game.
