Brewers workmanlike to advance in playoffs
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SAN DIEGO -- Although outfielder Garrett Mitchell gracefully accepted congratulations for robbing Manny Machado of a tying home run late in the Milwaukee Brewers’ Division Series-clinching victory, he clearly wasn’t all that impressed with himself.
To Mitchell, that dramatic play was just the predictable result of the same daily preparation and meticulous execution that made Milwaukee the majors’ best team throughout the regular season -- and which has now sent the Brewers roaring back to the National League Championship Series.
Mitchell tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the fifth inning before making a pivotal catch on Machado’s drive to the wall in the eighth, and the Brewers finished off the San Diego Padres with a 3-1 victory Wednesday night, winning their best-of-five series in four games.
When Machado stepped to the plate, Mitchell was already shaded to right-center, thanks to the Brewers’ scouting report. He coolly tracked the 406-foot fly off the bat, and he already knew the wall was quite short in that part of Petco Park, so he realized he would only need to reach up to catch the ball.
“I think we have a different type of confidence and belief in ourselves together as a team,” Mitchell said. “It’s just like a quiet, subtle confidence. It’s not showboaty. It’s just that everyone believes.”
The Brewers pride themselves on being ready to handle anything -- even something wild enough to silence a roaring sellout crowd in San Diego during the heat of October.
“Just got a good jump off the bat,” Mitchell said amid the Brewers’ beer-drenched postgame celebration in the visitors’ clubhouse. “When I got to the wall, I just had to stay composed and make the catch. I didn’t really have to jump. I knew the wall isn’t as high as at other fields.”
Mitchell also drove in Sal Frelick with Milwaukee’s first run as the Brewers snapped their 12-game postseason road losing streak since 2018 and reached the team’s fifth League Championship Series.
“Just so proud of these guys,” Frelick said. “After the first (loss in Game 3), it really starts to creep in that you don’t want to go back for a Game 5. Really proud of these guys for stepping up today and getting the job done.”
Their formula
One night after the Padres avoided elimination in Game 3, Milwaukee claimed its first road playoff win since the 2018 NLCS by sticking to its season-long formula for success.
While four Brewers pitchers combined on a three-hitter and the defense made nearly every big play, Milwaukee’s lineup calmly worked counts, pounded 10 hits through the Padres’ defense and manufactured enough runs to head home smiling.
“After yesterday, the energy in the clubhouse was still good,” Mitchell said. “Nobody was pressing. We were just treating it like another day, treating it like we have nothing to lose. We just had to go out there and play our brand of baseball, and that starts with quality at-bats, getting on base, putting pressure on teams, and we did that today.”
Game 2 hero Jackson Chourio capped his high-impact series by driving in Mitchell to become the Brewers’ career leader in postseason RBIs at just 22 years old. Chourio has 17 RBIs, including six in this series, in 16 playoff games.
Up next
The Brewers host the Los Angeles
Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell catches a ball hit by the Padres’ Manny Machado in the eighth inning in Game 4 of a National League Division Series on Wednesday in San Diego. (AP photo)