Padres open the NLDS in Milwaukee tonight, with Robbie Ray staring down Jacob Misiorowski
San Diego swept the Cubs, Milwaukee rested with the best record in baseball, and the Padres, who took four of six regular-season meetings, now face Milwaukee in the postseason for the first time. Game 1 starts at 5:30 p.m. PT on FS1; the series shifts to Petco Park for Game 3 on Tuesday.
SAN DIEGO: The Padres' road through October runs through Milwaukee. San Diego, 91-71 and fresh off a two-game sweep of the Cubs in the Wild Card Series, opens the best-of-five National League Division Series on Saturday at American Family Field against the major-league-best Brewers, who went 103-59 and rested through the first round with a bye. First pitch for Game 1 is 5:30 p.m. PT on FS1.
The pitching matchup is the story of the night. The Padres hand the ball to 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, the left-hander they acquired from San Francisco at the trade deadline, opposite Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski, the NL Cy Young front-runner who went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts this season. Ray is 0-3 with a 7.43 ERA in six career postseason appearances, while Misiorowski, who went 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three postseason relief appearances last year, makes his first playoff start. In his lone career appearance against San Diego, Misiorowski struck out 10 and allowed four hits and no walks in seven shutout innings on May 13, though the Padres still won 3-1 after Gavin Sheets hit a three-run homer off Abner Uribe in the ninth.
Padres manager Craig Stammen, who started Michael King and Nick Pivetta in the Wild Card sweep of the Cubs, is betting on Ray to steady the opener. "I think he's going to do well against this lineup," Stammen said. "As far as how far he goes or how long, he'll determine a lot of that, how well he pitches. And we know with Robbie, he can be erratic at times. If he's throwing strikes, I feel good about Robbie being in there."
The Brewers know what is coming. Milwaukee owns the best regular-season record in the majors over the last three seasons but is just 6-13 against San Diego in that span, including 2-4 this year. "They're playing so well and they're super talented, a super talented, confident team right now with, we all know, the best bullpen in baseball, with some real megastars in the lineup," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "And they're rolling. But that's what you're going to face at this time of year." Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts offered his own scouting report: "You have to bring your 'A' game, because they're just a team that's a headache. It's not like a swing-and-miss (where) they're going for the home run or nothing. They play good defense, run the bases, a lot of guys with speed."
The series ahead
The Padres took four of six from the Brewers in the regular season, including a sweep at Petco Park in August. Game 2 is Sunday at 4 p.m. ET in Milwaukee, with San Diego's Michael King (12-10, 3.21) matched against 24-year-old Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47). The series then moves to San Diego for Game 3 on Tuesday and, if necessary, Game 4 on Wednesday; a deciding Game 5 would be back in Milwaukee on Friday, October 9. The Brewers' 103 wins earned them home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
This is the first postseason meeting between the two franchises, and both are chasing the first World Series title in club history. San Diego, under .500 in late July, won 20 of its last 23 games to close the season and roll through the Wild Card round. Milwaukee has reached the postseason in eight of the last nine years. There is also a personal thread: Murphy got his first MLB managerial job with the Padres, going 42-54 as interim manager in 2015 after Bud Black was fired, and now he manages against them with a pennant on the line.
Bullpen chess
An early lead could be decisive, given what waits in both bullpens. San Diego counters with Mason Miller, who posted a 1.67 ERA while striking out 47.4 percent of the hitters he faced and holding opponents to a .152 batting average, while Milwaukee answers with Uribe and Trevor Megill, each of whom held opponents under .200. Expect the team that scores first to play the last three innings with its best arms.
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