Brewers (Gasser) vs Padres (Buehler): 10/7/26, 9:00pm

[wildcat83]

2 hours ago, adambr2 said:

Genuine question: why should we like our chances better than last year’s team that got sent packing quickly and didn’t look like they belonged on the same field with the Dodgers?

I'm not saying we shouldn’t — I feel better about our chances this year than last, I just can’t really come up with any reason other than a better feeling about it than last year. 

I'm just struggling to substantiate why, because it’s largely the same rosters. So I wonder how others feel about it. 

I think we have the pitching to have a punchers chance.  Miz was good last year, but not Cy Young good.  Henderson is a very legit #2.  I said all along that I thought the only way would have a chance in this series would be if Miz and Henderson were available to start 1,2,6,7.  However, if I had to bet my house on it, I would probably still lean Dodgers.  

 

I also think the 2-3-2 format is horrendous.  No way should a higher seed ever be trailing if both teams hold serve on their home court.  3-3-1 would be much better IMO.

[TURBO]

4 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Fernando Tatis Jr.: “Just the level of baseball played was so intense, was so high. ... They play really good baseball, man. We have to give it to them. Nothing but to wish them luck and to stay healthy onto the other side.”

I have to feel that the Padres will be rooting for us hard, no way they want the Dodgers to win it all.  Actually, I doubt any team in MLB will be rooting for the Dodgers from here on out, playoffs or World Series.

[adambr2]

6 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I have to feel that the Padres will be rooting for us hard, no way they want the Dodgers to win it all.  Actually, I doubt any team in MLB will be rooting for the Dodgers from here on out, playoffs or World Series.

I reckon you don’t associate with too many Cub fans. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I have to feel that the Padres will be rooting for us hard, no way they want the Dodgers to win it all.  Actually, I doubt any team in MLB will be rooting for the Dodgers from here on out, playoffs or World Series.

Your team's roster could be packed full of baby killers but if your team was playing the Dodgers, Padres fans would still cheer for your team.

[Brewcrew82]

Ending this series in 4 is so huge. Now, we don't have to use Miz in a Game 5 and don't have to tax our bullpen any further. Another major difference from last year.

Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby in particular will get a much needed long weekend of rest. 

Miz can go in Games 1, 5, and then come out of the bullpen in Game 7 if necessary to take down the Evil Empire of the NL. 

[Turning2]

14 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

THERE YA GO PRATT!!! Stick with 'em! Huge out there! 

As a former SS, I'm biased, but I'm a big fan of Pratt. He's the SS of now and the future, not Made. Really impressed with he and Lara handling the big lights as rookies so well.  I call him "Prattman" around my house. If I had more tech skills, photoshop, AI or whatever, I would make a Batman "bat logo" version using Pratt. Would love to see homemade fan signs of that at the ballpark, and become a thing, with the walkup song being the Batman theme. People would latch onto that if he continues to develop and produce. Imagine the walkup playing, it cuts out as he nears the box..... and the crowd roars in unison   "PRATTMAN"....   c'mon... that's gold Jerry... GOLD!!!  LOL

[Brewcrew82]

3 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Your team's roster could be packed full of baby killers but if your team was playing the Dodgers, Padres fans would still cheer for your team.

Going to be fun to see how Cubs fans twist themselves into rooting for the Dodgers in opposition to the rest of America outside of LA. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Going to be fun to see how Cubs fans twist themselves into rooting for the Dodgers in opposition to the rest of America outside of LA. 

They'll just pretend the baseball season is already over, I think.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I'm so late to this party because Game 3 wrecked me on a soul level, even though I felt confident going into tonight. Just a lot of combined factors in terms of the actual viewing experience and my own inability to slow my heart rate. I could never be a biathlete. As a result, I went to sleep after the 5th, woke up at 2:30, saw the score, couldn't sleep, and immediately watched the rest of the game before finally managing to fall back asleep around 4. What a ride. Series thoughts:

1) This was the most stressful Brewers experience of my life. I'd put it slightly ahead of Game 163 (third) and watching Games 4 and 5 in LA in 2018. Something about the West Coast start times, plus a short series, plus just a complete tension fest from first pitch to last. I may well change my tune before first pitch Sunday, and I definitely won't say the NLCS is gravy, but getting there and having the opportunity to face the Dodgers just feels like a major prize. Being deprived of that matchup, with all the special things this team has done, would have felt wrong. 

2) I wanted the Dodgers. I'm glad we get them. The pressure of playing a weaker side would have been a little annoying, and I like being able to be freer, just knowing they're the Dodgers. The two time champs. The juggernauts. Etc. I truly believe WE are the team that can beat them. Nobody else. Glad we get to try.

3) What a strange game (and series) from Pratt. Big hits and awesome ABs and also just a few deplorable ones. Errors and great defensive plays (the leaping stab in Game 2 was unreal and probably underrated) side by side. I guess that's what you expect from young players in a big moment. Inconsistency. Nice to have him get these games under his belt. Hopefully he gets a lot more.

4) Mitchell, I thought was a little different. He had a bad Game 3, but otherwise looked like a guy who had been there before. Everyone can put up horrid ABs against good pitching. He was better overall than the we'll remember, in part because negativity bias. In a series where the Brewers failed at little things, him making that catch was just doing ever little thing right, to the point that it's genuinely spectacular, even while looking relatively routine. It's not a highlight reel LOOKING catch, but that's because every part of it was done perfectly. It had to be. 

5) The Brewers also did the one BIG thing right. They put 13 pitchers on their roster. Sure, three of them didn't throw, but we won this series on pitching depth, no question. Gasser turned in the best starting performance of the series? Henderson was maybe a bit better over 5+ than Gasser over 4, but the fact that we're having that conversation tells how good he was. He just never got rattled, despite multiple opportunities. Pratt error. Tatis home run. First-inning Ortiz just failing to throw to first on a double-play ball. Cannot hat-tip enough. We won the Hader trade!! Meanwhile, the Padres were running on fumes, and not just because of injuries and the extra round. Choosing only 11 pitchers (only like 6 of whom you actually trust) just killed them. They held it together, but you saw why people said "our bullpen is good too" to start the series. The analysis focused on the household names. We brought guys who just as good in the aggregate, and capable of sharing the workload so that nobody was depending on two-inning saves and four consecutive appearances.

6) Dustin May wasn't good enough. I thought, though, that Romero and Senzatela were. Those guys were really important in middle innings. Even when they gave up runs, they kept things on the rails and did what they needed to do. You could argue they were both better than Uribe overall, who looked shaky even as he also gutted his way to outs. Just nothing to complain about on the pitching side EXCEPT for one bad inning from Dustin May (and its connection to the way we can't trust him to be anything but a 6-out guy in limited circumstances).

7) Ashby deserves his own special line item for being relaxed, bouncing back from a tough 2025 playoffs, and just generally being Andrew Miller circa 2016. The guy was versatile and up for whatever was needed. He's a Swiss army knife in the bullpen, and that has SO much value.

8) We got JUST enough left-handed production to win this series. Chourio was incredibly efficient in picking his spots. Only three hits, but lots of hard contact and six RBI. Contreras excellent. Turang wasn't. Yelich and Mitchell picked him up, and Bauers was on base four times last night. Plus, it was the series of Sal. Only three games, but tremendous impact. When lefties contribute, we win.

9) I thought Murph was very good overall this series. He stuck with guys a bit more than I'd have liked, and I think he was lucky that it didn't bit him, especially as Vaughn is concerned. Aside from that, tough to be too upset. I thought getting Mis up was a mistake. It's a meaningless one, but you're only going to bring him in if Megill gets in big trouble, and, at that point, it's such a narrow margin between Mis blowing someone away to close down the game or walking guys and contributing to an L. I think you're just better off with Trevor there, especially when there's more value in Mis pitching a Game 5. But, again, that doesn't much matter now.

10) We won a road playoff game. The streak is over. I don't know how we did it, but we did. This was an all-time classic postseason series, and it had the right ending. I know the comparison will drive folks mad, but I think these Brewers remind me a lot of the 2015 and 2016 Cubs. They have a young position player core with talent and speed. They have a lengthy lineup, with tough ABs one through 9. They have a Cy Young pitcher. They get a cathartic win over a division rival in 2025 (2015) only to get swept in the NLCS. Then, they come back in 2026 (2016), after a monster, 103-win season (the Cubs had a TIE that year!) to beat an NL West opponent in a dramatic, close-out Game 4. They move on, with homefield advantage, to face the Dodgers. I'm hoping we get the same end-result, but with less stress along the way.

GO BREWERS!!!!!!

 

 

[Fear The Chorizo]

2 hours ago, adambr2 said:

Genuine question: why should we like our chances better than last year’s team that got sent packing quickly and didn’t look like they belonged on the same field with the Dodgers?

I'm not saying we shouldn’t — I feel better about our chances this year than last, I just can’t really come up with any reason other than a better feeling about it than last year. 

I'm just struggling to substantiate why, because it’s largely the same rosters. So I wonder how others feel about it. 

#1 - Even though the Dodgers can say the same thing, this year the Brewers can set up their NLCS pitching staff without any worry about days rest coming off a grueling 5 game NLCS set against the Cubs.  A huge part of that is the fact last season at this point, Mis was more or less a long reliever the Brewers were giving the ball to 1-2 games per series due to innings limit concerns they managed most of the 2nd half of 2025.  Having Mis being able to start a game on regular or even extended rest for Game 1 and Game 5 gives the Brewers their best chance to win those pivotal games regardless of who the Dodgers have throwing (likely Skubal).  Henderson being able to pitch games 2 and 6 at home are also key.

#2 - Ohtani isn't in God mode like he was at this point last postseason.  He definitely won't be pitching - I get that the Dodgers still have like $120M worth of payroll dedicated to the 4 starters the Brewers will face in the NLCS even without the ~$70M deferred accounting gimmick that is Ohtani's contract not throwing a pitch - but not having Shohei fully healthy and rolling is a difference-maker IMO that gives the Brewers a shot to compete.

#3 - similar rosters, but I think 1 more year of seasoning actually helps this young Brewer team with that added experience, and at its best it doesn't give the veteran-laden Dodgers any more advantage.  It's not like the Dodgers are worn down old-timers, since they've basically given several of their key arms/players extended IL stints during the season to be fresh in October (Snell/Glasnow in particular).

#4 - ABS - I know we give Contreras alot of crap for poor challenge calls....but at least they've got that in their pocket to try and keep umpires from human-error giving veteran stars on the other side (both on the mound and in the batter's box) an edge over marginal ball-strike calls.  I give Bill some slack for the challenges - because I think he more than any other catcher has to keep a check on the umpire because more often than not those marginal calls seem to initially be made against the Brewers, not for them....it isn't very frequent during the game that opposing hitters are challenging pitches the umpire calls strikes which wind up being balls.

#5 - health - last year, Chourio was hobbling around with a terrible hammy.  Despite his low batting average this postseason, he's a difference maker at the top of the lineup and hitting the ball hard very consistently.

#6 - Bullpen - The Dodgers likely won't need to use theirs as much, but the Brewers have a clear edge on the Dodgers when it comes to bullpen depth.  If the series gets into games 6 and 7, that edge could mimic what we saw last night when the Padres were running out arms on fumes to try and piece together getting 9 innings of outs.  They held the Brewers to 3, but honestly some tough hitting luck probably prevented last night's game from being a more comfortable 4-6 run margin of victory.

 

[TURBO]

[owbc]

20 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I have to feel that the Padres will be rooting for us hard, no way they want the Dodgers to win it all.  Actually, I doubt any team in MLB will be rooting for the Dodgers from here on out, playoffs or World Series.

After the game last night my FIL lost his phone while leaving Petco Park, we called it and security had picked it up but we had to wait at the gate for like 20 minutes for them to bring it. In that time we like 2 dozen groups of Padres fans talk to us. They all had exactly one sentence to say to us -- "Beat the [expletive] Dodgers". 

[Brewcrew82]

Jackson Chourio only ends the series with a -.177 point differential in his xwOBA and wOBA.....

Had some of the worst batted ball luck I've ever seen for a hitter who was hammering basically everything. Hopefully that regresses to the mean in the NLCS. We could use it. 

[markedman5]

20 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

#1 - Even though the Dodgers can say the same thing, this year the Brewers can set up their NLCS pitching staff without any worry about days rest coming off a grueling 5 game NLCS set against the Cubs.  A huge part of that is the fact last season at this point, Mis was more or less a long reliever the Brewers were giving the ball to 1-2 games per series due to innings limit concerns they managed most of the 2nd half of 2025.  Having Mis being able to start a game on regular or even extended rest for Game 1 and Game 5 gives the Brewers their best chance to win those pivotal games regardless of who the Dodgers have throwing (likely Skubal).  Henderson being able to pitch games 2 and 6 at home are also key.

#2 - Ohtani isn't in God mode like he was at this point last postseason.  He definitely won't be pitching - I get that the Dodgers still have like $120M worth of payroll dedicated to the 4 starters the Brewers will face in the NLCS even without the ~$70M deferred accounting gimmick that is Ohtani's contract not throwing a pitch - but not having Shohei fully healthy and rolling is a difference-maker IMO that gives the Brewers a shot to compete.

#3 - similar rosters, but I think 1 more year of seasoning actually helps this young Brewer team with that added experience, and at its best it doesn't give the veteran-laden Dodgers any more advantage.  It's not like the Dodgers are worn down old-timers, since they've basically given several of their key arms/players extended IL stints during the season to be fresh in October (Snell/Glasnow in particular).

#4 - ABS - I know we give Contreras alot of crap for poor challenge calls....but at least they've got that in their pocket to try and keep umpires from human-error giving veteran stars on the other side (both on the mound and in the batter's box) an edge over marginal ball-strike calls.  I give Bill some slack for the challenges - because I think he more than any other catcher has to keep a check on the umpire because more often than not those marginal calls seem to initially be made against the Brewers, not for them....it isn't very frequent during the game that opposing hitters are challenging pitches the umpire calls strikes which wind up being balls.

#5 - health - last year, Chourio was hobbling around with a terrible hammy.  Despite his low batting average this postseason, he's a difference maker at the top of the lineup and hitting the ball hard very consistently.

#6 - Bullpen - The Dodgers likely won't need to use theirs as much, but the Brewers have a clear edge on the Dodgers when it comes to bullpen depth.  If the series gets into games 6 and 7, that edge could mimic what we saw last night when the Padres were running out arms on fumes to try and piece together getting 9 innings of outs.  They held the Brewers to 3, but honestly some tough hitting luck probably prevented last night's game from being a more comfortable 4-6 run margin of victory.

 

Brewers also didn’t have Mitchell last season.

Look Dodgers are still the favorites……and should be……but this is a better Brewers team…….Dodgers pitching is still ferocious……but their offense isn’t quite as scary.

In order to be the man you got to beat the man……..

I’m just glad we get at least 4 more games to enjoy this team.

[homer]

Do not mention that thing from June or August or whenever it happened. Last warning. And once again, louder for folks in the back: if you report a post, don't respond to that post.

[thammondwis]

59 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Going to be fun to see how Cubs fans twist themselves into rooting for the Dodgers in opposition to the rest of America outside of LA. 

Who cares!

[markedman5]

You got to love Trevor Megill man

 

[BlightyBrew]

Just need to win two more series.

[markedman5]

We got to know what Bauers wanted Sal to “ tell them what happened “ lol

[Turning2]

1 hour ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Ending this series in 4 is so huge. Now, we don't have to use Miz in a Game 5 and don't have to tax our bullpen any further. Another major difference from last year.

Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby in particular will get a much needed long weekend of rest. 

Miz can go in Games 1, 5, and then come out of the bullpen in Game 7 if necessary to take down the Evil Empire of the NL. 

Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster drain on the everyday players.  Many suggested that's what did them in against LA last year, and I think it has merit. Hell, just as a fan, I don't recall ever being so drained after a series as last night and every night of those 4 games. Every pitch, every inning, every at bat mattered. There was never "this game is over" in the 6th or 7th inning for or against us. Truly a clawed out, and well deserved victory for players and fans alike. Not needing to go through that 2 more nights will help the players come Sunday. 

[Samurai Bucky]

5 hours ago, SeaBass said:

Sure but this is not the only poster that has this weird issue with Murphy's kids being present at a press conference. A) what percentage of baseball fans even choose to watch a full press conference, and B) what even tinier percentage of those viewers have this particular issue? It's just so incredibly unimportant.

Hey, someone being annoyed that the kids are there is fine, right? Ok, I can accept a person having that feeling in the moment. But it's been harped upon over and over and over on this message board for a couple years now. It's... weird.

Maybe he wants his kids to be up there instead of Murphy's?

[willie key]

2 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Ending this series in 4 is so huge. Now, we don't have to use Miz in a Game 5 and don't have to tax our bullpen any further. Another major difference from last year.

Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby in particular will get a much needed long weekend of rest. 

Miz can go in Games 1, 5, and then come out of the bullpen in Game 7 if necessary to take down the Evil Empire of the NL. 

Patrick and Drohan are going to feel like the Incredible Hulk next time they get in with all this rest.    Harrison is not needed next series imo

[hawing]

Was Garrett's catch last night enough to "even the score" with Manny M? 

 

[Yaz]

1 hour ago, BlightyBrew said:

Just need to win two more series.

See the magic # thread.

[edfunderburk]

4 hours ago, hawing said:

We should be able to find him a better soft drink than Fanta for any subsequent celebrations. 😉🤞

I stopped drinking alcohol in college at age 21 … amazing to hear you are a lifelong drink-free teetotaler 🙌

and I agree that Pratt could improve on Orange Fanta … I usually drink coffee, water, iced tea & if I’m feeling frisky … lemonade 🍋