Jackson Chourio just beat the best closer in baseball with two outs and the bases loaded, and the Milwaukee Brewers are now two wins from the NLCS. Chourio’s two-run single off Mason Miller gave Milwaukee a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday and a 2-0 lead in the National League Division Series.
The Padres had the game in hand until the ninth. Milwaukee was trailing 3-2 when Miller came in to finish it.
Miller Loses the Zone, Then the Game
Miller walked Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick and Gary Sanchez to load the bases. Three straight walks from a pitcher with his stuff is not a bad night at the office, it is a closer coming apart in the biggest inning of his season. Miller was past 35 pitches and still throwing triple digits, but velocity does not matter when you cannot find the plate.
San Diego had no one else it trusted in that spot, and that is on the Padres’ bullpen planning. If your answer to a ninth-inning jam is to leave the same arm out there, you had better be right. They were not.
The At-Bat That Decided It
Chourio fell behind in the count and had to fight off hard stuff. According to Sports Illustrated, he fouled off a fastball and a slider before turning on the next pitch and lining it past second baseman Jake Cronenworth. Yelich and Frelick scored, and the Brewers poured out of the dugout.
It was Chourio’s second career walk-off hit and his first in the postseason. “I got my family in the stands, so I dedicate this one to them,” he said through a translator. “I was just happy to do it, I don’t have words for this.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy had a simple read on his young outfielder. “He’s coming into his own as a hitter,” Murphy said. “When he stays under control, it’s amazing.”
Why Milwaukee Is in Command
History says this series is nearly over. According to MLB.com, teams that win the first two games of a Division Series have advanced 83 times in 93 tries, or 89 percent. The Brewers now head to San Diego for Game 3 on Tuesday.
The Padres have to answer a hard question before then. Miller was supposed to be the safety net for a roster built to win close games, and he just handed away the one game they could not afford to lose. A team down 0-2 on the road to the other side of the bracket needs its closer to be Miller again, and quickly.
Milwaukee does not need to be perfect. It needs to keep doing what it has done so far, which is take every bit of traffic the Padres allow and turn it into runs. Chourio just showed that works against anyone, even a closer throwing 100.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.