MILWAUKEE — Moments after giving up a pair of runs in the ninth inning, Milwaukee’s Caleb Durbin launched a home run to the Brewers’ bullpen out in left-center field to walk-it-off,  4-3, against the San Diego Padres in Milwaukee.

Padres’ reliever David Morgan, making his fifth major league appearance, threw a 98 mph fastball high and outside the zone, and it ended up being his only pitch on Saturday. Proving to be costly, it was the second run he’s allowed in his career.  

Before the Brewers pulled away, San Diego, once again, got the bats going when their backs were against the wall. 

The eventful ninth inning included a two-out rally for the Padres that capped off with a Luis Arraez two-run double to left field near the third baseline after Tyler Wade, who pinch hit for Brandon Lockridge, and Xander Bogaerts both stole a base to get themselves into scoring position.

“Guys fought their tails off,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “We have some guys that are just giving us single fiber they’ve got. And I’ve got so much respect for… Our guys are grinding. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys that were in the fight tonight.”

This was another game where the Padres (36-27) delivered strong pitching for a majority of the contest and produced no run support, going 2-for-7 with RISP and striking out ten times. It should be mentioned that the Padres gave Fernando Tatis Jr. the day off, which caused a shift in the lineup

With no Tatis Jr., they had Arraez be the designated hitter, Xander Bogaerts to lead off, Jose Iglesias at second base, Gavin Sheets back in left field and Lockridge in right.  

The Padres’ offense were forcing Brewers’ starting pitcher Jose Quintana to have a high quantity of pitches midway through the frames. Reaching 101 pitches by the end of the fifth inning, Quintana was taken out of the game and replaced with Nick Mears, allowing a run and five hits. 

San Diego forced numerous long at-bats, including a nine pitch walk during the fourth inning to Iglesias that later lined up Elias Díaz to hit the only Padre run until the ninth. Out of the five hits on Quintana, four of them came from his sinker and other from the slurve.

However after that run, they only had one RISP until the ninth inning, which gave the Brewers the chance to hit a game tying sac-fly in seventh, followed by another sac-fly from Rhys Hoskins and a Issac Collin RBI single to jump in front 3-1. 

The tight style of play from the Padres is commendable at times as it reflects similar aspects to October baseball, but it shouldn’t be something they should settle for or believe it’s sustainable for the long haul, as they play the Dodgers (38-27)  twice and the Diamonds (31-33) in their next three series. 

They haven’t won a game by more than two runs since the middle of May (5-1 against the Angels). 

Until the seventh inning, the Padres were in a good position defensively because of starting pitcher Stephen Kolek and a couple of plays by Manny Machado, including a tremendous grab, robbing Jackson Chourio’s 105 mph liner at the hot corner during the eighth.

With only three earned runs allowed while on the road, Kolek had another solid performance on the mound for the Padres. He pitched 5 ⅔ scoreless innings, giving up only three hits and striking out a pair on 88 pitches.   

Owning a 3-1 record with a 3.00 ERA in seven career starts, the righty has pitched a total of 42 innings and has 29 strikeouts. While the Padres are dealing with a number of injuries in the pitching department, he could establish himself with a more prominent role as the season rolls on when they get their reinforcements back. 

With the Dodgers also suffering a walk-off defeat to the Cardinals, the Padres are still within a game behind first place in the NL West. They are half a game back from the first place wildcard spot but are now tied second with the Giants (37-28)

Looking to take the rubber-match, Sunday’s series finale will feature the second career start of Ryan Bergert (1-0, 2.00 ERA), who threw for five innings in San Francisco in their 3-2 win in extra innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

On the opposing mound, right-hander Freddy Peralta (5-4, 2.92 ERA) will get the start for the Brewers. Peralta last faced the Padres in April of 2023, where he pitched five innings, allowing five ERs on nine hits. He lost his most recent start against the Reds, in which he allowed three runs on seven hits through six innings.