Padres beat Brewers 4-3 in Game 3, cut NLDS deficit to 2-1

The San Diego Padres pulled themselves back from the brink of elimination on Tuesday night, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in Game 3 of the National League Division Series to avoid a sweep and cut their deficit in the best-of-five set to 2-1. Jake Cronenworth's go-ahead solo home run and a two-inning save from Michael King, pitching for the second time in three days, kept San Diego's season alive in front of a sold-out Petco Park crowd.

The Padres had lost the first two games of the series in Milwaukee, putting them one defeat from being swept by a Brewers team that won more games than any other club in baseball this year. Tuesday's win means the series now returns to Petco Park for a win-or-go-home Game 4 on Wednesday night, with a potential Game 5 back in Milwaukee on Friday if San Diego forces it.

A taut, back-and-forth battle

San Diego built an early cushion against Brewers starter Milwaukee right-hander Dustin May, scoring twice in the third on RBIs from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. May settled in after that, finishing with three innings pitched, three hits allowed, two earned runs, three strikeouts and two walks before handing the ball to Milwaukee's bullpen.

Milwaukee answered in the fourth to cut the deficit to 2-1, then tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth. San Diego starter Nick Pivetta, who worked into the fifth with four strikeouts and no walks across 4 1/3 innings, had already departed by the time Cronenworth untied it in the bottom of the inning, taking reliever JoJo Romero deep for a solo homer — his first postseason home run in 22 career playoff games, according to the Associated Press recap of the game.

San Diego added a sixth-inning insurance run before Milwaukee catcher William Contreras, who finished 3-for-4 with a home run, pulled the Brewers back within one with a run-scoring hit of his own. Christian Yelich added a seventh-inning single — his first playoff RBI since 2018 — but that was as close as Milwaukee would get. The official box score shows the Brewers outhit the Padres 11-6 and left 11 runners on base, unable to turn volume into enough runs.

King, summoned for the final two innings after starting Game 2 just two days earlier, allowed one-out walks to Contreras and Brice Turang in the ninth before Yelich lined a 107-mph shot up the middle. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts dropped to his knees to field it on a short hop, stepped on second and fired to first to complete a game-ending double play — King's first save since 2023, his first in the postseason and his first as a Padre.

Heavy underdogs since the Wild Card round

The gap between these two clubs has been evident all October. Milwaukee finished the regular season 103-59, the best record in the majors, captured the NL Central for a fourth consecutive year and recorded the first 100-win season in franchise history. San Diego, by contrast, finished 91-71 and needed every bit of a late push to claim the National League's No. 4 seed.

The Padres swept the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Series, 8-0 and then 4-1 on a pinch-hit homer from Gavin Sheets, avenging their own elimination by Chicago in last year's Wild Card round. That momentum did not carry over against Milwaukee, which took the first two games of the Division Series before San Diego's Tuesday rally, putting the Padres' deepest postseason run in years in jeopardy before Game 3.

Beyond the standings, the loss stung Milwaukee's bullpen math. Closer Mason Miller was placed on the paternity list roughly 45 minutes before first pitch, forcing manager Pat Murphy to lean on Romero, Antonio Senzatela, DL Hall and Abner Uribe in relief of May. On the other side, King's six-out save means San Diego's manager, Craig Stammen — hired over the winter after Mike Shildt's retirement and making his postseason managerial debut this October — has now used his best reliever in three of the series' first three games.

"We've been up against the wall all year. A lot of people didn't think we would be in this position to begin with, and here we are. ... To believe in a group that could overcome this is the 26 guys in there that fought all year to be in this position," Manny Machado said of the Padres' resilience entering the must-win stretch.

What happens next

San Diego now needs to win two straight to advance, starting with Game 4 on Wednesday night at Petco Park, according to the MLB postseason schedule. A Padres win would force a decisive Game 5 back at American Family Field in Milwaukee on Friday. Lose, and the Brewers advance to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2018.

Pitching depth will shape the next 48 hours for both clubs. King's workload raises questions about his availability if Game 5 is needed, while Milwaukee must decide how far to push a bullpen that already covered six innings on Tuesday. CBS Sports' postgame analysis framed Bogaerts' series-saving double play and King's six-out save as the difference between a Padres team still breathing and a quiet end to their season. For now, San Diego has bought itself at least one more game at home, with its deepest October in years still alive — and a packed Petco Park crowd that will need to show up twice more if the Padres are going to complete the comeback.