Two playoff hopefuls get into a three-game tangle Friday through Sunday, with the second-place San Diego Padres visiting the surging Milwaukee Brewers. Here’s to a weekend of waddling Bratwursts and bright yellow slides.

How to watch San Diego Padres at Milwaukee BrewersViewing guide
Time (ET)TVStreamProbables

8:10 p.m. Fri.

MLB.TV
Padres.TV
FanDuel SN

Randy Vásquez
Chad Patrick

7:35 p.m. Sat.

Fox
Fox Deportes

Stephen Kolek
Jose Quintana

1:05 p.m. Sun.

Roku

Ryan Bergert
Aaron Civale

Milwaukee hits this weekend with the ninth-most runs per game, but it is 21st in batting average and 23rd in homers. But the Brew Crew is putting numbers on the board with elite base running and a solid walk rate. Speedy second baseman Brice Turang leads the lineup in WAR, and he’s one of four Brewers with double-digit steals through the first third of 2025. The other three: Jackson Chourio, a prodigious five-tool Venezuelan, former MVP Christian Yelich and Gold Glove ascendant Sal Frelick.

Pat Murphy’s team was 25-28 after a May 24 loss to Pittsburgh. Since then, Milwaukee enjoyed consecutive series sweeps, with back-to-back walkoffs versus Boston and a high-scoring statement-maker in Philadelphia. It took two of three against Cincinnati earlier this week. The Chicago Cubs still have a comfortable hold on the NL Central, but the Brewers are playing like a playoff team right now.

San Diego is down to a simmer after its feverish start to the season, finishing May at 13-13 with a minus-14 run differential. The Pads beat rival San Francisco on Monday and Tuesday, but lost 6-5 on Wednesday and then 3-2 Thursday night. Still, they find themselves just two games back of the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

The Padres’ stars are doing their respective things thus far. Fernando Tatís Jr. is on pace for another 30-HR, 30-SB campaign. Manny Machado is No. 10 in MLB batting average. And 22-year-old Jackson Merrill looks like the future of the franchise. He was ninth in NL MVP voting last year (as a rookie), and he’s increased every part of his slash line (plus OPS) in 2025.

Mike Shildt’s squad is below league average in scoring and power numbers, but San Diego is winning on the hill with the eighth-best collective ERA. The Padres lead baseball with 10 shutouts in 61 games.

Friday night starts with two right-handers, Randy Vásquez (3–4, 3.99 ERA) and Chad Patrick (3–4, 2.97 ERA). Saturday’s national TV broadcast showcases RHP Stephen Kolek, who is 3-1 in his first six Padres starts, and Milwaukee LHP José Quintana, the 14-season veteran with a clean 4-1 record and a sub-3 ERA. San Diego will deploy righty Ryan Bergert to open Sunday’s finale. He did four one-run bids to start the season, then put in a career-high five innings of work against the Giants on Tuesday. Bergert will be matched by fellow righty Aaron Civale, an attempted reclamation project for the Brewers. He’s a paltry 15th percentile in fastball velocity and has been leaning on his cutter and sinker.

Most home runs in both jerseys:

Greg Vaughn, 247 (169 MIL, 78 SD)
Rob Deer, 141 (137 MIL, 4 SD)
Sixto Lezcano, 126 (102 MIL, 24 SD)
Updated odds for each team

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(Photo of Fernando Tatís Jr: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)