Brewers finish off Padres to set up repeat clash with Dodgers in NLCS

The Milwaukee Brewers will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS again. They can only hope it goes better than last year.Milwaukee finished off the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, posting a 3-1 victory in Game 4 to end the season of what was the hottest team in baseball this time last week. The Brewers’ four-game series win sets up a rematch of the 2025 NLCS.The Dodgers swept that series on their way to a second straight World Series title.STRUCK HIM OUT!The @Brewers are going back to the NLCS!@MLBONFOX pic.twitter.com/gtFtgeugNP— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 8, 2026 Game 1 of this year’s NLCS is scheduled for Sunday in Milwaukee. The Brewers will be looking to reach the World Series for the first time since 1982 and are still in pursuit of the first title in franchise history. Their victory Wednesday at least broke a record streak of 12 straight postseason road games lost.The Brewers came short of a sweep 24 hours earlier but hardly looked bothered by getting taken to a fourth game. Starting pitcher Robert Gasser threw four innings, with his only blemish a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer. Then Aaron Ashby came in and threw three scoreless, hitless innings.With six outs to get, the Brewers brought in elite setup man Abner Uribe, and that wound up being the Padres' best chance to save their season. With a runner on first in a two-run game, Manny Machado hit the ball high and hard.But he didn't hit it hard enough to get it past the reach of Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell, who fought off the fingers of a Padres fan to rob Machado of a game-tying homer.GARRETT MITCHELL TAKES AWAY A GAME-TYING HOME RUN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/UVjEXP3VA7— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2026 As for the offense, the Brewers just kept coming. The lineup didn't strike out until the seventh inning, when Padres All-Star closer Mason Miller entered the game. Single runs came in the third, fifth and sixth innings, each off a different bat. It's honestly a wonder the Brewers didn't score more, having left 10 runners on base with a 2-for-12 performance with runners in scoring position.There were no surprises from San Diego this time, outside of that homer from Tatis, and now their season is over. Once again, it's a frustrating end for a Padres team that has spent like a contender for years, with just one unsuccessful trip to the NLCS to show for it. They Padres entered this series having won 19 of their previous 22 games, but two frustrating games in Milwaukee stopped that momentum cold.With Michael King, Robbie Ray, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and several others able to hit free agency this winter, it could be an expensive offseason for San Diego just to maintain this year's team. And with new ownership aboard, there's no telling what direction the franchise will go as MLB enters its own highly uncertain offseason.