Winners and losers from Games 1 and 2 of Brewers-Padres NLDS matchup

What a weekend for the Milwaukee Brewers. After a record-breaking 103-win regular season, Pat Murphy's squad embarked on their much-anticipated postseason run with a matchup against the red-hot San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series. Over the weekend, the Brewers won Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS in thrilling fashion, pulling off one-run victories in each contest.

As a result of this electrifying start to their 2026 postseason run, the Brewers head to San Diego for Game 3 with a 2-0 series lead in the NLDS. They need just one more victory to secure a spot in the National League Championship Series for the second consecutive season. The Brewers, as a whole, were the clear winners of the weekend at American Family Field, but let's take a closer look at the game within the game and highlight a few individual winners and losers from Games 1 and 2 of the Milwaukee and San Diego's NLDS matchup.

3 winners from the Brewers' thrilling start to the 2026 NLDS

1. Jackson Chourio

How can you not start with "Mr. October" himself, Jackson Chourio? In the first two games of the NLDS, Chourio became the franchise record holder for the most postseason home runs, the third-youngest player ever to hit a walk-off in the postseason, and solidified himself as one of the best playoff performers in Brewers history.

Chourio's Game 1 two-run homer was instrumental to the Brewers starting their 2026 postseason run with a victory. Milwaukee trailed 2-0 after an uncharacteristically shaky start from Cy Young front-runner Jacob Misiorowski, but Chourio changed that with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the third inning. The 22-year-old phenom crushed a 113.3 mph laser (the hardest-hit homer of Chourio's career) into the Brewers' bullpen and completely changed the mood at American Family Field.

Then, on Sunday, Chourio once again shifted the vibe at Am Fam, only this time he sent the packed stadium into a frenzy with a two-out, two-strike walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth off Padres' All-Star closer Mason Miller. It will go down as one of the biggest hits in Brewers history, and the main reason Milwaukee heads to Petco Park with a 2-0 series lead.

2. Brewers' bullpen

The Brewers' bullpen covered nine innings in the first two games of the NLDS and didn't surrender a single earned run. Misiorowski didn't have the outing he was hoping for in Game 1, but the quintet of Antonio Senzatela, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, DL Hall, and Trevor Megill picked him up with five scoreless innings to give the Brewers the win.

In Game 2, after Logan Henderson covered the first five innings while allowed just one earned run, the Brewers' bullpen was once again excellent during the final four frames. An unearned run that crossed the plate while Uribe was on the bump was the only blemish on an otherwise spotless performance from Milwaukee's relief corps. Fans knew the bullpen was a strength heading into the postseason and through the first two games of the NLDS, it's shown up in a big way and been a key to the Brewers' back-to-back nail-biting victories.

3. The Brewers' Captain

On the second-to-last day of the regular season, the Brewers named Christian Yelich the first official team captain in franchise history. It's a role held only by two other active MLB players -- Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees -- and one that acknowledges the many years of service that Yelich has put in as the leader of the Brewers' clubhouse.

In what was otherwise a frustrating season for Yelich at the plate, the 34-year-old former MVP didn't let his performance on the field impact his leadership off of it, but in the first two games of the postseason, the Brewers' captain has turned in vintage performances. Yelich collected the first hit for his team in each of the two games against the Padres over the weekend. In Game 1, that hit came in the second inning, and in Game 2 it was Yelich's fifth-inning double that broke up Michael King's perfect game and led to the Brewers' first run of the contest.

Later in Game 2, Yelich missed an opposite-field go-ahead home run by a matter of inches, but didn't let it impact his final at-bat, which set up Chourio's heroic walk-off single. Yelich showed impressive poise at the plate against Mason Miller, and started the ninth-inning rally with a walk. Then, with the Brewers trailing by one run, Yelich swiped second base to get into scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Though the stolen base didn't end up mattering, as Miller walked the bases loaded, Yelich's presence on second base undoubtedly put extra pressure on the Padres' closer, which could have led to his command issues. Yeli, now wearing the captain's patch, was a key part of the Brewers' victories over the weekend.

3 losers from the opening weekend of the Brewers and Padres NLDS matchup

1. Offense with runners in scoring position

Despite only 12 total runs being scored across the two opening games of the Brewers and Padres' NLDS matchup, there were plenty of scoring opportunities over the weekend. Aside from the first four innings of King's start in Game 2, neither pitching staff did a great job of limiting traffic on the basepaths.

However, neither offense did a great job of capitalizing on those scoring opportunities. In Game 1, the Brewers were 2-for-9 at the plate with runners in scoring position, which was better than the Padres, who were 1-for-9 in the same situations. Game 2 wasn't a vast improvement for either side as the Brewers went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and the Padres were 2-for-9.

Collectively, the two teams left 36 runners on base during the first two games of the NLDS (the Brewers left 16 on base and the Padres left 20). For two offenses that were among league leaders in most statistics during the final month of the regular season, it was a shocking development, but one that speaks to the strength of both clubs' pitching staffs.

2. Padres' All-Star relievers

It was highly publicized heading into the NLDS just how strong the Padres' bullpen is. In addition to their trio of All-Star relievers at the back-end of their 'pen -- Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, and Jason Adam -- the Padres roster a flame-throwing rookie in Bradgley Rodriguez, who sported a 2.19 ERA in 68 appearances this year, and a dominant southpaw in Yuki Matsui, who maintained a 1.83 ERA in 54 appearances during the regular season.

While Rodriguez and Matsui didn't allow a single earned run in 4.1 combined innings over the weekend, the same cannot be said for San Diego's All-Star trio. Adam didn't allow an earned run, but it could be argued that his late-season inconsistency led Padres' manager Craig Stammen to turn to Miller for six outs in Game 2, which ultimately turned out to be a costly decision. Morejon, meanwhile, surrendered the go-ahead solo homer to William Contreras in Game 1 on Saturday night, and Miller was on the bump for Chourio's walk-off in Game 2.

The duo of Morejon and Miller is a key piece of the Padres' roster, and San Diego counts on the two All-Star relievers to be near perfect every time out. When they aren't perfect and their opponents take advantage of it, it's a killer for the Padres' squad.

3. Infield defense

Surprisingly, infield defense ended up playing an important role in Sunday's game, and not for the reasons fans would expect with the Brewers and Padres' strong defensive units on the field.

As a team, the Brewers committed three errors on the infield in Game 2, which led to two unearned runs. A would-be double-play ball snuck under the glove of Brice Turang, Cooper Pratt was charged with a throwing error, and David Hamilton didn't field a relatively easy play at third base. That uncharacteristically poor defense made things interesting for the Brewers, but they were bailed out, in part, by miscues from the Padres as well.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Padres' second baseman Jake Cronenworth, who is the weak link of San Diego's otherwise solid infield defense, committed two errors on a slowly hit ground ball from Hamilton that resulted in the Brewers scoring their second run of the game and pulling to within one run. Obviously, after Chourio's ninth-inning heroics, that run ended up being rather important.

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