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SAN DIEGO (AP) -- When right-hander Michael King dramatically emerged from the bullpen in a darkened Petco Park to pitch in the eighth inning of Game 3 just two days after he made a five-inning start in Game 2, the San Diego Padres’ desperate determination to extend their season was clear.
The relentless Milwaukee Brewers are making that job awfully difficult -- but after three scintillating, one-run playoff games packed with pressure moments, extraordinary plays and hero turns in this NL Division Series, the Padres are still fighting for at least another day.
Jake Cronenworth hit a tiebreaking homer, King pitched the final two innings on one day of rest and the Padres avoided playoff elimination with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night, trimming Milwaukee’s lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1.
“It feels like we’ve played three straight games against the Brewers like that,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “We finally were able to come out on the right end of things in this one. A lot of big effort from a lot of guys during the game to get us to the final score.”
Xander Bogaerts scored San Diego’s fourth run on a hustle play in the sixth and then capped his team’s stellar defensive performance with a game-ending double play at shortstop for the Padres, who hung on in a nail-biter over the MLB-best Brewers. This is the first playoff series since the 2021 National League Championship Series to begin with three straight one-run decisions.
Game 4 is Wednesday night at Petco Park. If necessary, Game 5 will be back in Milwaukee on Friday.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado drove in early runs for the Padres, but their bullpen didn’t have star closer Mason Miller, who went on the paternity list about 45 minutes before the first pitch. San Diego also didn’t have top setup man Adrian Morejon, who has shoulder “stickiness,” according to Stammen.
So despite pitching 12 innings in two starts over the previous seven days, King stepped up and finished it off -- but only after a thrilling ninth.
King retired four of his first five batters before walking William Contreras and Brice Turang. Christian Yelich then cracked a 107 mph line drive up the middle, where Bogaerts went down to his knees to field it on a short hop and scampered to touch second base before throwing out Yelich at first to end it.
San Diego had won 19 of 22 and swept the Cubs before losing two straight heartbreakers in Milwaukee last weekend.
Contreras homered and had three hits for the Brewers, who lost their 12th consecutive postseason road game dating to the 2018 NLCS.
Yelich even got his first playoff RBI since 2018 with a seventh-inning single, but Milwaukee fell behind early and never led, leaving 11 runners on base.
DODGERS 3, BRAVES 1
ATLANTA (AP) -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out 10 in seven brilliant innings, Kiké Hernández hit a two-run homer and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.
Yamamoto dominated his much-anticipated matchup with Atlanta ace Chris Sale, who allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings. Last year’s World Series MVP permitted only four hits and one walk while improving to 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason outings, including 10 starts.
His 10 strikeouts were a postseason high for him.
The Dodgers can clinch the best-of-five series and take another step toward becoming the first National League team to win three consecutive World Series by beating the Braves again Wednesday night in Game 4.
Atlanta hoped giving Sale extra rest would be a winning formula in the pivotal third game. Instead, after stranding six runners in the first three innings, he gave up the two-run homer to Hernández and a solo shot to former Braves star Freddie Freeman in the fourth.
Ozzie Albies opened the Atlanta ninth with a double off the right-center wall against Díaz and moved to third on Michael Harris II’s groundout. Díaz stranded the runner and earned a save when Mauricio Dubón fouled out to right field and Mike Yastrzemski grounded out to shortstop Mookie Betts.