NLCS Bound: Strong pitching, home run robbery by Mitchell leads Brewers to Game 4 win

The Brewers are heading back to the NLCS. An all-around strong game by the Brewers led them to a 3-1 win over the Padres, ending the series in four games and setting up a rematch from last season.

The game started out looking rough for the Brewers. In the top of the first, Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras went down on six pitches. Meanwhile, the Padres put the pressure on right away. After Fernando Tatis popped out on the first pitch Robert Gasser threw, Jackson Merrill hit a one out single to right-center. Manny Machado then surprised everyone with a bunt, and it was perfectly placed for a single.

Next up was Ty France, and he hit what looked like a double-play ball to Joey Ortiz. He took the out at first himself, but did not throw to first. It's not clear why he didn't go for it, but it was the second out of the inning. Gasser then walked Austin Hays on five pitches, loading the bases for Xander Bogaerts. However, Gasser recovered and got Bogaerts to pop out, ending the inning.

Both teams traded scoreless second innings. Jake Bauers drew a one-out walk, but Cooper Pratt grounded into a double play to end the inning. Meanwhile, Gasser recovered with an efficient inning, retiring the side on 12 pitches while striking out one.

In the third, Brewers' baseball was on full display. Sal Frelick led off the inning with a single that Jake Cronenworth managed to knock down and keep in the infield. Frelick then stole second, and Garrett Mitchell brought him in with an RBI single to center. For the first time in the series, the Brewers scored first, leading 1-0.

They had a chance to add on more, but Ortiz grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the inning. Chourio drew a two-out walk after that, but Yelich grounded out to end the top of the inning.

The lead wouldn't hold up long, unfortunately. Tatis Jr. led off the bottom of the third, and hit the fourth pitch he saw 429 feet out to center field, tying the game at 1-1. Gasser recovered by retiring the next three batters he saw, keeping the game tied.

The Brewers kept the pressure on in the fourth. Contreras singled to start the inning, which ended Walker Buehler's day. He pitched 3+ innings and allowed just the one run, allowing three hits and two walks with no strikeouts. Robbie Ray was first in out of the bullpen for the Padres. He allowed a one-out walk to Bauers, but that was it as he got out of the inning.

Gasser got one more inning for the Brewers, and despite an error by Pratt that allowed Campusano to reach, he got out of the inning without issue. Gasser gave the Brewers four strong innings, allowing just one run, three hits, and a walk while striking out three.

Mitchell started out the fifth inning with a big hit for the Brewers, tripling to right to give the Brewers a leadoff runner for the third straight inning. This time, the Brewers would not strand him. After Ortiz grounded out, Chourio hit a single to center and brought in Mitchell. The Brewers had the lead back, 2-1. Yelich added a single in the fifth, that was it.

Aaron Ashby was the first reliever out of the bullpen for the Brewers in the bottom of the fifth. He didn't run into any issues, retiring the side in order on nine pitches. He also got some help from Pratt, who recovered from his earlier error with a nice play to get Tatis Jr.

Meanwhile, the Brewers offense kept going. Bauers led off the sixth with a single, the fourth straight inning where the Brewers had their leadoff man on. Pratt then kept up his redemption his a hard-hit ball down the left field line, which bounced out over the wall for a ground-rule double. Frelick was up next, and hit one deep to left, but remained in the park. It was more than deep enough to score Bauers, and the Brewers added a critical insurance run, making it a 3-1 game.

Ashby remained in the game for the sixth, and despite allowing a walk to Ty France, a double play made it a 1-2-3 inning, with Ashby just needing 12 pitches in that inning. The Padres chose to go to Mason Miller in the seventh inning as the top of the Brewers' lineup was due up. He started out strong with a line out of Chourio and strikeout of Yelich — the first strikeout by a Padres' pitcher in the game. Miller faltered after that, allowing back-to-back singles to Contreras and Turang. Bauers then drew his third walk of the game, reaching base for the fourth time and loading them. Pratt had a chance to do some damage, but he lined out to center to end the inning. He also burned the Brewers' last ABS challenge in the at-bat.

In a surprise move, Ashby remained in the game for the seventh inning. He had thrown just 21 pitches through two innings and was still in good shape. He got Bogaerts to ground out and Campusano to strike out for the first two outs of the inning. He then walked pinch-hitter Miguel Andujar, bringing up Samad Taylor. Ashbe froze Taylor with a four-pitch strikeout, finishing up three excellent innings for the Brewers' bullpen.

After the Brewers went down in order against Joe Musgrove in the eighth, it was Abner Uribe for the ninth with the top of the lineup due up. The inning did not start out well with Tatis Jr. drawing a walk in an at-bat that Contreras wanted to challenge a couple pitches, but could not because the Brewers were out. Uribe recovered with a strikeout of Merrill, bringing up Machado. On the second pitch, Machado hit a ball to deep center field that was going to leave the park for a game-tying home run. However, Mitchell denied him, making a leaping grab to rob Machado and keep the Brewers ahead.

France popped out after that and morale for the Padres was at a low for the series. The Brewers were three outs away from the NLCS.

They couldn't tack on in the top of the ninth, though they did have another scoring chance. Yelich was hit by a pitch hit one out, and stole second base. Turang sent one to deep left field, but it wasn't deep enough and the inning ended.

Trevor Megill came in for the ninth inning to close the game out. Jacob Misiorowski was also throwing in the bullpen just in case. Megill began with a four-pitch strikeout of pinch-hitter Ethan Salas. Bogaerts was up next and worked the count full, but ended with a groundout to Ortiz for the second out. Gavin Sheets was called in as a pinch-hitter with two outs and the Brewers needing one more out. Megill started with two balls, came back with two strikes, then got Sheets to strike out looking and end the game, sending the Brewers to the National League Championship Series.

The pitching staff was the star of the game. Their four pitchers held the Padres to one run, three hits, and four walks. They also struck out nine. After Tatis Jr.'s home run, the Brewers did not allow another hit in the game. Gasser pitched four innings and allowed one run, Ashby had three scoreless, and Uribe and Megill each had a scoreless inning each. The big assist goes to Mitchell, who robbed Machado of a home run and two runs on the board.

Meanwhile, the Brewers' offense was balanced, recording ten hits and four walks. Contreras and Mitchell had two-hit days. Bauers reached base in all four of his plate appearances. The only Brewer that did not reach base was Ortiz.

The Brewers now get a few days off before the NLCS starts on Sunday. The opponent will be the Dodgers, once again. The Dodgers won the series against the Braves in four games earlier today. This will be the third time in the last nine years the teams face off in the NLCS. First pitch on Sunday is at 7 p.m. on FOX, and you have to expect that the starter will be Jacob Misiorowski.