The San Diego Padres entered the postseason as Major League Baseball's hottest team, and played like it against the Chicago Cubs in the wild card series.
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Padres → enter → series
Completely shutting down of the league's best offenses, the Padres rolled by a combined score of 12-1 in the first round.
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Padres → shut → round
Their offense, led by a resurgent Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill, along with strong contributions from unexpected sources like Dustin Harris, Luis Campusano and Ty France, looked formidable.
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offense → lead → Harris
And typically aggressive trades brought in Robbie Ray to strengthen the rotation behind Michael King and Nick Pivetta.
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trades → bring → King
The Padres run through September was magical, going 18-6 to clinch a playoff berth and home field in the wild card series.
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run → go → series
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
But in a sign of how quickly things can change in October, their division round matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers has shown how "magic" is unpredictable.
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magic → change → Brewers
The Brewers won game one 3-2 in controversial fashion after France crushed a towering fly ball that hit the American Family Field roof and fell harmlessly into the glove of outfielder Jackson Chourio.
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that → win → Chourio
The same Chourio that hit a mammoth two-run homer off Ray to tie the score earlier in the game.
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that → hit → game
Desperately needing a win on Sunday to tie the series 1-1 heading back to the tremendous home field advantage at Petco Park, San Diego sent their ace, King, to the mound against Logan Henderson.
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Diego → need → Henderson
King went five innings, allowed just three hits and one run with no walks while striking out six.
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King → go → six
For most of the game, it looked like that would be enough.
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that → look → game
But as the old adage goes, it's never over until it's over.
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it → go → ?
The Padres jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Ty France single, then added another with some uncharacteristically poor defense from Milwaukee.
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Padres → jump → Milwaukee
In the 6th, Brice Turang made an error on a routine double play ball from Tatis that allowed him to reach and sent Campusano to third base with one out.
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him → make → out
Harris grounded into a force out that let Campusano score to extend it to 2-0.
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Campusano → ground → 2
Milwaukee scratched across a run in the 6th, but San Diego once again got it back thanks to Ty France.
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Diego → scratch → France
But in the 7th, the defensive miscue tables turned.
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tables → turn → 7th
Second baseman Jake Cronenworth made an error on a David Hamilton grounder, letting Garrett Mitchell score to make the score 3-2.
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score → make → grounder
Must-win situation, game and series on the line in the 8th, and the Padres understandably turned to all world closer Mason Miller.
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Padres → win → Miller
Miller, who had a 1.67 ERA in the regular season, which arguably was a bit "unlucky" to begin with, got through the 8th on just 12 pitches.
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which → have → pitches
Bottom of the 9th, 3-2 game, and Miller started to show some cracks in his seemingly invincible armor.
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Miller → start → armor
After getting Garrett Mitchell to ground out, he walked Christian Yelich, then Sal Frelick.
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he → get → Yelich
When he got Andrew Vaughn to fly out to center for the second out, the Brewers pinch hit Gary Sanchez, who worked the third walk of the inning to load the bases.
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who → get → bases
And then, the decision that will be second guessed in San Diego for years to come, if the Padres don't complete the big comeback.
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Padres → guess → comeback
The lineup turned over after Sanchez, bringing up Chourio, Milwaukee's best hitter.
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lineup → turn → Chourio
Miller, who rarely gets more than 3-4 outs or throws more than 20-25 pitches in an outing, had by that point reached 34 pitches.
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who → get → pitches
He'd gotten through five outs, but walked three hitters in the inning.
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He → get → inning
Instead of going to another reliever to get the final out, manager Craig Stammen left him in to face Chourio.
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Stammen → go → Chourio
It didn't work.
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It → work → ?
On a 2-2 pitch, Chourio crushed a liner 109.5mph to center, driving in Yelich and Frelick for a stunning 4-3 walk-off win and 2-0 series lead.
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Chourio → crush → win
Miller blew just three saves in the regular season and allowed just 37 total hits.
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Miller → blow → hits
But he faced nine hitters on Sunday, far more than a typical outing.
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he → face → outing
While his velocity never really dipped, three walks showed he was not as sharp as he typically is.
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he → dip → ?
It's understandable Stammen wanted to live and die with the best relief pitcher in baseball instead of risking it with someone like Jason Adam or David Morgan.
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Stammen → want → Adam
But at 34 pitches, facing the best hitter Milwaukee has, having already walked three hitters, it's reasonable to wonder if the Padres would have been better served by making a pitching change.
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Padres → face → change
The Brewers have won back-to-back one-run games against a team that typically excels at winning them.
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that → win → them
They beat Mason Miller, which for most of the year seemed all but impossible.
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which → beat → year
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
