The San Diego Padres completed a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, Aug. 12, walking off with a 4-3 win in 11 innings at Petco Park after Luis Campusano delivered the decisive single off Antonio Senzatela. The victory pushed the Padres to 65-57 and, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, put San Diego squarely in the mix for a National League Wild Card spot after a stretch of momentum-building wins.
For the Brewers, who entered the series at 74-46 and one of the best records in baseball, the loss capped an ugly offensive stretch and sent them reeling into a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on what the Journal Sentinel called "the lowest of notes." Milwaukee finished the series 2 for 25 with runners in scoring position and went 1 for 12 in that category in the series finale alone.
The result was especially hard to swallow because right-hander Dustin May, acquired by the Brewers and making just his second start in a Milwaukee uniform, gave the team almost everything it could have asked for. May pitched into the eighth inning, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six and recording 11 outs on the ground, according to the Journal Sentinel. He worked economically behind a heavy dose of cutters and sinkers, needing only 79 pitches to get through seven innings and retiring seven straight Padres at one point, highlighted by a six-pitch sixth inning.
May's only blemish came when Xander Bogaerts hung a two-strike sweeper into the second deck of the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field for a solo homer that trimmed San Diego's deficit to 2-1. The blast, per the Journal Sentinel, was the 500th hit of Bogaerts' career as a Padre. May escaped his biggest jam in the fourth inning, when a potential double-play grounder was bungled at shortstop to load the bases, by getting Austin Hays to ground into a 5-4-3 double play instead.
The Brewers' offense had produced its only run to that point on a second-inning home run from Gary Sanchez, plus an RBI double from Brice Turang that made it 2-1 in the third. But the game unraveled once May left after a leadoff walk to open the eighth. Reliever Chad Patrick then walked Luis Rengifo with two outs, and Jake Cronenworth followed with a chopper to first base that turned into the game's turning point: Aaron Ashby fielded the ball but lost the race to the bag, and Fernando Tatis Jr. scored all the way from second to tie the game at 2-2 without a play at the plate, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Milwaukee avoided disaster in the ninth when center fielder Garrett Mitchell made a diving, game-saving catch on a sinking liner from Jase Bowen with a runner on second, robbing what would have been a walk-off hit. Trevor Megill then worked two scoreless innings in relief, his first multi-inning outing since June 29, stranding automatic runners in both the ninth and 10th. San Diego closer Mason Miller also gave Milwaukee an opening in the top of the ninth by walking two batters, but Jackson Chourio flied out and Brice Turang struck out on a 103 mph fastball to end the threat.
The Brewers compounded their frustration with more mistakes in extra innings. Turang was thrown out attempting to steal third for the first out of the 10th. In the 11th, after Sanchez drove in the automatic runner with a leadoff double, three consecutive Brewers strikeouts left the bases loaded and the game tied. Right fielder Luis Lara nearly bailed Milwaukee out again with an acrobatic diving attempt on a Campusano liner in the bottom of the 11th, but the ball landed in front of him; his throw home beat pinch-runner Sung-Min Song, though Song slid in before Sanchez could apply the tag, ending the game.
The series also featured lineup shuffling for Milwaukee. According to Brew Crew Ball, manager Pat Murphy had initially misspoken about which player was injured, saying Turang had hurt his thumb when it was actually Jackson Chourio. Chourio nonetheless started the finale batting leadoff in left field, while shortstop Joey Ortiz also returned from injury, allowing Turang to shift back to second base. Jake Bauers started in left field in a separate game in the series while Andrew Vaughn manned first base, with Luis Lara and Christian Yelich getting a breather on the bench.
Despite the sweep, Milwaukee's National League Central lead remains substantial; the Chicago Cubs sit four games back in the division race, per Brew Crew Ball. But the manner of the loss, and its timing right before a pivotal four-game set against the Dodgers, has raised questions about a Brewers offense that managed just three runs across the final two games of the Padres series. San Diego, meanwhile, used the sweep to strengthen its Wild Card push, with Bogaerts' milestone homer and Campusano's walk-off single serving as the signature moments of a series defined as much by Milwaukee's mistakes as by the Padres' execution.
MLB.com's game coverage highlighted May's outing as a bright spot for Milwaukee even in defeat, with in-game data showing his effective mix of cutters and sinkers against a Padres lineup that swung early and often. For San Diego, the series offered a reminder of how quickly playoff math can shift in August, with a single close series capable of altering the Wild Card picture for both clubs.
