# Padres Daily: Slim margin is big difference; a couple San Diego stars aren’t shining **By:** Kevin Acee **Published:** 2026-10-05T13:30:31Z **Source:** [San Diego Union-Tribune](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/10/05/padres-daily-slim-margin-is-big-difference-as-a-couple-stars-not-shining) --- San Diego Padres | Padres Daily: Slim margin is big difference; a… Jackson Merrill, left, and Fernando Tatis Jr. walk off the field after their loss to the Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Good morning from Milwaukee, The Padres are going to have to pull their biggest and best and quickest bounceback of the season. Because they are in trouble. In a span of 25 largely sprayed pitches and then one 101 mph fastball in the center of the strike zone, the Padres went from about to flip the National League Division Series in their favor to dire straits. You can read the details of what went down and what opportunities were lost in my game story (here) from yesterday’s 4-3 loss to the Brewers. You can also read Jeff Sanders’ sidebar (here) on Mason Miller’s disastrous ninth inning. The Padres are down two games to zero in a best-of-five series. Of the 93 teams that have been in this predicament from 1969 through 2025, just 10 came back to win that series. (One of those was the 1984 Padres.) That is an 11% success rate. Conversely, teams that split on the road to start best-of-five series, effectively stealing homefield advantage, ended up winning more than 60% of the time (30 of 49). But, hey, FanGraphs had the Padres’ chances to make the playoffs at 7.4% and their chances to make the LDS at 3.1% on July 23. And here they are. “We’ve had our backs up against the wall for a while — since July — and no different now,” Jake Cronenworth said. “And obviously, a must-win game from here on out.” The difference Yesterday was an ugly loss, for sure. But it was going to be an ugly win. And that would have been fine. All that matters in the postseason is scoring more runs than the team on the other side. The Brewers gifted the Padres two runs with errors in the infield yesterday. The Padres gifted the Brewers a run with an error in the infield. Among the many innings that illustrated the problem for the Padres was yesterday’s eighth, when Jackson Merrill singled and pinch-hitter Samad Taylor laid down a bunt meant to be a sacrifice that turned into a single when Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers charged instead of covering the bag. Then, after having runners on first and second and no outs, a strikeout and double-play grounder followed. The only problem with using that inning as an illustration is that Merrill got a hit. Because it was his only one in the series. Unless something changes, how this playoff run ends will be recalled as being because of the failings of two players who turned it on in the second half to lift the Padres into the postseason and the two relievers who made the Padres almost unbeatable this season when they had a late lead. The losing pitcher in Game 1 was Adrian Morejón. The losing pitcher yesterday was Miller. If a ballot for Padres MVP had three lines on it, it is possible those two pitchers and Ty France would be the names written on most of those sheets of paper. And when we look back at the Padres leading the major leagues with a 41-18 record from July 24 through the end of the season, we know it was Fernando Tatis Jr. and Merrill who powered that surge. Well, France is still doing his job effectively in October. He drove in two runs yesterday with both of the Padres’ hits with runners in scoring position. Everyone else was 0-for-7. But Tatis is 1-for-10 in the series and has stranded three runners in scoring position. And Merrill is 1-for-9 and has stranded four runners in scoring position. (Manny Machado has had some sterling at-bats and is 2-for-6 with three walks, though he has also stranded four runners in scoring position.) The Brewers haven’t been all that much better with runners in scoring position (4-for-16) than the Padres (3-for-18). However, the Brewers hit two home runs Saturday and had a big-time player come up in a big-time situation yesterday when Jackson Chourio, who hit a game-tying two-run homer in Game 1, hit a two-run walk-off single at the end of a magnificent at-bat. That’s it. That is the series so far. The Brewers, who won an MLB-high 103 games, are the better team. By two runs in two games. Good vs. Good The point needs to be stressed that Padres hitters are not facing Nationals pitchers in this series. The Brewers’ bullpen might actually be the best in the major leagues at this moment. It has been one of the best all season — slightly better than the Padres statistically as a whole. And their higher-leverage arms seem to all be electrified at present. “Combination of both,” Tatis said when asked about the Padres’ offensive struggles. “Obviously, they have really good pitching out there, and we also can take better at-bats as a group, including myself. Just just clean it up. Obviously, I want to say better at-bats. But, man, they’re moving the ball well. We’ve just got to find a way to execute.” Both the Padres and Brewers have used four relievers with a Stuff+ rating of 103 or higher in this series. The Brewers relievers are generally having cleaner innings, and Brewers manager Pat Murphy has been able to mix and match adeptly with six guys while Craig Stammen has limited his usage to five relievers. Campusano’s hand The lineup change the Padres made shortly before yesterday’s game, with Gavin Sheets replacing Ethan Salas at designated hitter, was over concerns about Luis Campusano’s left hand. Campusano had a 102 mph fastball from Jacob Misiorowski come in and hit the handle of his bat knob and then his hand in the fourth inning Saturday. As Campusano prepared for yesterday’s game, he was experiencing soreness and was taken to get X-Rays. The imaging came back negative, and Campusano began to feel better as he loosened up and hit in the cage. But the Padres were not certain he would be able to make it through the game and wanted to make sure Salas was available to catch if Campusano had to depart the game early. Freddy Fermin replacing Campusano behind the plate in the bottom of the seventh was said to not be because of Campusano’s hand. And it was not the first time Fermin, the superior defender, has replaced Campusano late when the Padres have had a lead. Just lost it Padres starting pitcher Michael King was utterly dominant for the better part of five innings. First inning: three groundouts. Second inning: three strikeouts Third inning: two groundouts and a strikeout Fourth inning: two groundouts and a strikeout Fifth inning: groundout, strikeout, double, single, single, pop fly out. “Couple mistake pitches,” King said of the fifth. He was removed after beginning the sixth inning by hitting Chourio in the back with a sinker. King, who held the Cubs hitless for 6⅓ innings in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series, now has the two longest no-hit bids in Padres postseason history. He was an out away from becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to have started two games with at least five scoreless innings in the same postseason. That’s great. But the Padres needed him to stay in the game longer yesterday. Stammen said he and the pitching coaches had mapped out before the game the likelihood they would have Miller work the final two innings if they had the lead, King not being able to get at least another couple outs and Matsui getting just one out in the seventh were components of that decision coming to fruition. Tidbits France’s 46 multi-hit games since the start of the regular season are tied with Merrill for second on the team behind Tatis’ 48. France has started 121 games to Merrill’s 156 and Tatis’ 160. Sanders’ notebook from yesterday (here) focused on France’s day and previewed the starters for tomorrow’s Game 3. Campusano was 1-for-2 with a walk yesterday and is 3-for-9 with three walks in three games in the postseason. The seven pitches Cronenworth saw yesterday were tied for his fewest ever in a game in which he had at least four plate appearances. Cronenworth is 0-for-7 in the series and 1-for-13 in the postseason. Austin Hays hit .421 (16-for-38) against left-handed pitchers in the regular season after joining the Padres in early August. He is 0-for-5 against lefties in the postseason. The Padres were 4-for-4 on ABS challenges yesterday and are 6-for-6 in the series. They were 2-for-3 in the wild-card series. During the regular season, the Padres were tied for 25th in the majors with a 50% success rate on ABS challenges. The Padres are coming home for at least one game. That’s the good news. All right, that’s it for me. Early flight and then another workout day at Petco Park. We will have coverage on our Padres page later today and tomorrow. The next Padres Daily will arrive in your inbox on Wednesday morning after Game 3. Talk to you then.