Overview of Brewers' regular season performance against Padres ahead of NLDS matchup

The highly anticipated NLDS matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres gets underway tonight. The two recent postseason regulars six times during the regular season, with San Diego being just one of seven teams to win a season series against the Brewers this year. The Padres, in large part thanks to a three-game sweep of the Brewers in San Diego in mid-August, won four of their six meetings against Pat Murphy's squad this year.

Interestingly, the conclusion of that August 12 series marked a turning point for both teams. After Jake Bauers told the Brewers to “chill out,” after being swept, Milwaukee went 29-12 to close out the regular season. The Padres were nearly as strong during that final stretch, going 25-14 before sweeping the Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series.

This sets up a matchup between two of the hottest teams in baseball entering the NLDS. Before the series gets underway, let’s review what happened when these two teams met during the regular season.

Brewers' season series loss to the Padres in the regular season requires more context

The two teams first met in May, when the Brewers hosted the Padres for a three-game series in Milwaukee. Milwaukee took the series 2-1, opening with a 6-4 victory behind Brandon Sproat, with Abner Uribe recording the save as Trevor Megill was still working his way back into the closer’s role.

In the second game of the series, the Brewers went up against Michael King, who has emerged as one of San Diego’s top starters this season. Milwaukee pushed him to 99 pitches through 5.2 innings, collecting eight baserunners, six hits, and two walks, but managed to score just once. Jacob Misiorowski started for Milwaukee and threw seven dominant, scoreless innings, but the game ultimately slipped away in the ninth. Uribe surrendered a three-run go-ahead homer to Gavin Sheets before San Diego turned to Mason Miller, who shut the door to secure the win.

The Brewers responded in the series finale, with their offense coming to life and providing a then-dominant Kyle Harrison with seven runs of support to secure the series victory.

More recently, however, the Padres swept the Brewers in August at Petco Park. Milwaukee suffered a one-run loss in the series opener, with Logan Henderson allowing a solo home run to Ty France in the second inning before Jackson Merrill launched a two-run homer in the seventh. The Brewers managed just two runs in six innings against Padres trade-deadline acquisition Casey Mize, who is currently on the injured list, before San Diego’s bullpen shut them down over the final three innings.

In the second game, the Padres jumped all over Kyle Harrison, scoring eight runs against him, although only three were charged as earned following an untimely error by Ji Wan Bae. Bae was filling in out of necessity as the Brewers dealt with injuries across their infield. San Diego ultimately cruised to an 11-2 victory.

Finally, San Diego completed the sweep with a 4-3 victory in the series finale. Dustin May turned in a dominant performance for the Brewers, tossing seven innings and striking out six, while Robbie Ray, who is scheduled to start tonight for San Diego, lasted just four innings. The game went into extra innings, where the Padres rallied for two runs in the 11th to complete the comeback. Antonio Senzatela was on the mound for Milwaukee when Padres' catcher Luis Campusano delivered the walk-off hit for San Diego.

All that said, the Padres winning the season series against the Brewers, including a sweep in August, needs to be viewed with context. Milwaukee was dealing with a banged-up infield last time they met, while Harrison was not fully right, creating circumstances that are much different from what the Brewers bring into the NLDS now. Pair that with the fact that Henderson was facing the heart of the Padres' order for a third time in his loss in mid-August -- something he's unlikely to do in October -- and Uribe and Megill weren't their normal dominant selves during the series in May, and it's fair to say things could look rather different for the Brewers in their postseason matchup with San Diego.

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