Sports · NEWS EXPLAINER
Chourio’s two-run single gives Brewers 4–3 win and 2–0 NLDS lead
Three walks set up Chourio’s winning single. The Brewers move one win from the NLCS.
Jackson Chourio drove in two runs with a ninth-inning single as Milwaukee beat San Diego 4–3 on Sunday, October 4. The Brewers lead their best-of-five NLDS 2–0.
Three walks make one hit enough
Milwaukee began the ninth down 3–2. After a groundout, Padres closer Mason Miller walked Christian Yelich and Sal Frelick. Andrew Vaughn’s flyout left the Brewers with one out remaining, but pinch hitter Gary Sánchez drew another walk. That filled the bases for Chourio, who singled into center field on a 2–2 pitch.
Yelich and Frelick came home on the hit, first tying the score and then putting Milwaukee ahead. The three walks had placed the tying and winning runs on base without a hit. Chourio’s single proved enough to bring them home; he did not need to clear the bases or hit a home run.
A six-out assignment ends after five
Miller retired three batters in the eighth, then recorded a groundout and Vaughn’s flyout in the ninth. Chourio’s hit ended his outing.
To finish the eighth and ninth with the lead, Miller needed six outs. Miller’s perfect eighth accounted for half that assignment, and he reached five with the lead intact. Those walks mattered because they gave Milwaukee multiple runners to move on the next hit.
An earlier run keeps the comeback within reach
San Diego led 2–0 before Milwaukee answered in the fifth. Yelich doubled with two outs and Frelick singled him home. Ty France’s RBI single in the seventh then restored a two-run Padres lead at 3–1.
Garrett Mitchell scored on a Jake Cronenworth error in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the gap to 3–2. That run changed what a later two-run hit could accomplish: from one run behind, it could win the game. With the earlier two-run deficit intact, the same two runs would only have tied it.
What the 2–0 lead means in San Diego
Game 3 is scheduled in San Diego for Tuesday, October 6, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern / 6:30 p.m. Pacific. Milwaukee needs one more victory to reach the National League Championship Series. San Diego must win three consecutive games to advance; winning the next game alone would keep its season going.
Milwaukee has won both games by one run. Each counts as one series win regardless of the margin. The earlier game report explains how Milwaukee earned its first victory, while the Dodgers–Braves opener provides context on the other NLDS. Neither opening result settles the next round’s matchup.
