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Padres 5, Brewers 4 (11 innings): Milwaukee falls to 1-3 on its final regular-season road trip

SAN DIEGO – Their Central Division title clinched a day earlier, the Milwaukee Brewers experienced the flip side of the coin against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Monday night, Sept. 22.

Freddy Fermin smacked a one-out, first-pitch single off Grant Anderson into center field in the 11th inning, scoring Bryce Johnson as the Padres punched their postseason ticket by handing the Brewers a 5-4 loss in front of their 67th sellout crowd of 2025.

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Milwaukee fell to 1-3 on its road trip with the loss, but in the aftermath manager Pat Murphy saw positives from his squad.

“That was a fantastic environment,” he said in the aftermath, his team’s magic number to clinch baseball’s top record still at three. “Good baseball game. Pleased with our guys. They came out to play and they played hard the whole way. Really pleased that way. And the Padres have got a really good team.

“When you’re in one of those back-and-forth games it can go down to the little things. You can’t walk guys, and they were resilient. Give them credit.”

The Brewers were undoubtedly kicking themselves after this one, hard-fought game or not, considering they grabbed a quick 3-1 lead against the tough Nick Pivetta in the second inning only to manage to score once more in the ensuing nine.

They had just seven hits but drew eight walks, finished 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.

Freddy Peralta reached the 200-strikeout mark for the third straight season, starting and pitching five innings while maintaining a one-run lead up to his exit.

The game didn’t start out great for Peralta, who allowed consecutive one-out singles and a two-out walk in the first to load the bases, then with Jake Cronenworth at the plate he committed a run-scoring balk when he stumbled striding down the mound in the midst of his delivery and never released the ball.

Cronenworth eventually struck out to cap a nine-pitch battle, but San Diego had grabbed the early 1-0 lead.

The momentum shifted in the second when the Brewers loaded the bases with one out. Caleb Durbin singled in a run to tie it and then with two outs Christian Yelich – batting leadoff for the first time this season – lined a two-run single to center to give Milwaukee a 3-1 lead.

Another milestone for Freddy Peralta

Peralta settled in after that shaky first inning and allowed only a single over the next three frames in keeping it 3-1.

He struck out the side in the third and then got Cronenworth swinging in the fourth to hit 200 for the third straight season, joining Yovani Gallardo (2009-2012) and Corbin Burnes (2021-2023) as the only pitchers in franchise history to have at least three seasons of 200 or more strikeouts.

“When you accomplish all those numbers, it’s special,” Peralta said. “It makes me feel really good. I know those guys and I know how hard they worked, and when you get to the point you want to be it’s not easy to stay healthy for the whole season.

“I’ve got to give credit to my catchers and my pitching coaches because without them I probably wouldn’t do it”

A first-pitch mistake by Peralta wound up costing him, as the fastball he left over the heart of the plate to start the San Diego fifth was hammered into the second deck in left by No. 8-hitting Jose Iglesias.

It was just the second homer of the season for him, and narrowed the Brewers’ lead to 3-2.

Peralta went on to finish the fifth then was pulled in favor of Aaron Ashby heading into the sixth in what was a pre-planned move according to Murphy.

“Yeah, of course,” said Murphy, who also confirmed Peralta will make one final shortened regular-season start against the Cincinnati Reds that will leave him with a career-high 33 when all is said and done.

Peralta allowed four hits, two runs and two walks with six strikeouts over a season-low 75 pitches against a Padres team the Brewers could very well be facing again in less than two weeks in the NLDS if the field holds.

San Diego currently leads the teams’ season series, 3-1, with two games remaining.

“They have some power in general. They play aggressive and they showed me that in the first inning,” Peralta said. “I was think we all know how good they are.”

Things go downhill from there

Two straight two-out walks issued by Nick Mears in the seventh led to a tie ballgame when Luis Arráez singled to center.

Both bullpens kept it 3-3 going to the 10th, with Milwaukee striking quickly against Adrian Morejon.

Brice Turang tagged and advanced to third base on a William Contreras fly ball to right and then scoring on a Sal Frelick chopper with the infield in as Turang’s head-first slide allowed him to get his hand across the plate just ahead of the tag.

San Diego tied it three batters into the bottom of the frame on a Gavin Sheets grounder. Rob Zastryzny then surrendered a hit and a walk to load the bases only to escape with another forceout.

The Brewers loaded the bases with one out in the 11th only to have Jackson Chourio bounce into a 4-3 double play to end the threat and cap his nightmare of an evening with an 0-for-6.

“It’s baseball, man,” Murphy said of the younger’s forgettable performance. You’ve got to be mature enough to stay cool throughout all of it. Sometimes you hit ’em where they’re not and everybody goes crazy and sometimes you hit ’em right at somebody.

“That’s the way it goes. It was a great at-bat, a great experience. He had two hard-hit balls tonight, so he’s probably feeling like he’s snakebit. But that’s the stauff you’ve got to get through.

“Baseball’s a tough game.”

Anderson entered for the 11th and with the automatic runner on second was immediately greeted by an Iglesias bunt.

Johnson advanced to third, and Fermin’s single to center closed the book on Anderson after just two pitches and sparked a wild celebration.

“I like the way we competed tonight,” Murphy said. “I have no problem with it. I mean, this is who this team is. Look at that play in the 10th – Frelick hits the ball and Turang gets his hand in. That’s who we are and we’re going to continue to be that way.

“And if it ain’t good enough, then you know what? That’s the way it’ll be. These guys, they know our pitching staff’s on fumes and they just continue to do a great job.”

What time is the Brewers game today?

Time: 8:40 p.m.

What channel is the Brewers game on tonight?

TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin.

Brewers 2025 record

95-63 (clinched NL Central title)

Brewers magic number

The Brewers magic number to clinch the best record in the major leagues is three over the Phillies and one over the Blue Jays for home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Brewers lineup

Padres lineup

Brewers schedule

Brewers vs. Padres, Sept. 23, 8:40 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Bruce Zimmermann (season debut) vs. San Diego RHP Randy Vásquez (5-7, 3.94). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

Brewers vs. Padres, Sept. 24, 3:10 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25) vs. San Diego TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Padres 5, Brewers 4 (11 innings): Milwaukee falls to 1-3 on its final regular-season road trip

Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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