NLDS Game 2 winners and losers: Brewers magic strikes again in walk-off win; Mason Miller implodes

Milwaukee worked three walks against the Padres closer in the ninth inning before Jackson Chourio called game

Oct 4, 2026 at 7:57 pm ET • 4 min read

The 2026 MLB postseason continues Sunday with Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers emerged victorious Saturday in Game 1 over the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, respectively, and will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Division Series on Sunday.

Since the best-of-five Division Series became a thing in 1995, the team that won Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73% of the time, and 32% of the time the series ended in a sweep. Winning Game 1 doesn't guarantee a series win, but the Brewers and Dodgers are in the driver's seat at the moment. Here are the final scores and schedule for Sunday's playoff action:

• FINAL: Brewers 4, Padres 3 (box score); Brewers lead series 2-0
• UPCOMING: Braves at Dodgers (8 p.m. ET); Dodgers lead series 1-0

To sum up all the NLDS Game 2 action, we're here to declare a winner and loser from both games. You can find those authoritative and inarguable declarations just below.

Winner: Brewers magic

The Brewers are the best team in baseball and they showed why late

In the parlance of the late, great Mel Allen, "how about that?!?!"

The Milwaukee Brewers used a clutch home run somewhat late in Game 1 of the series to take a 1-0 series lead. They now have a 2-0 lead after an incredibly improbable victory in Game 2. The numbers say it was improbable and the Padres had closer Mason Miller on the mound, which seemingly made it even more improbable. Don't tell the Brewers.

The win probability chart said the Brewers only had an 11% chance to win with one out in the ninth inning. Miller closed down 38 saves in 41 chances in the regular season and had a 1.67 ERA. He's likely to win the NL Reliever of the Year award. In the hands of so many teams in so many other games, the odds would've felt insurmountable.

The 2026 Milwaukee Brewers scoff at such improbabilities and odds. 

They worked three walks against Miller before budding young superstar Jackson Chourio came to the plate and delivered with a two-RBI, walk-off single up the middle. It was a rocket. Remember, Chourio hit a two-run, game-tying blast in Game 1. 

At 109.5 miles per hour off the bat, it was the second-hardest ball hit in the game. Chourio is now the third-youngest player ever with a walk-off postseason hit after two different Edgar Renteria knocks in 1997 (via Sarah Langs). 

Chourio joins 2018 Mike Moustakas and 2011 Nyjer Morgan as the only Brewers players with postseason walk-off hits.

This Brewers magic isn't new. Of their MLB-best 103 wins, 42 were of the comeback variety, including six walk-off winners in the regular season. Plus, they were at home. With the regular season and playoff combined, the Brewers are now 57-26 with a +168 run differential at American Family Field. 

They've done this enough times that they don't even seem fazed by a comeback situation. They never quit, and once things started to move in their direction, even an outside observer such as myself felt like the improbable was becoming the inevitable. 

Loser: Mason Miller's ninth inning

Miller was asked for a rare two-inning save and it didn't work

Padres closer Mason Miller didn't have any two-inning saves in the regular season, but it's the playoffs and relievers are often asked to go a bit longer when called for. The situation called for it in Game 2, as the Padres faced a 1-0 series deficit and a few other relievers had been used heavily in Game 1. 

Miller had an easy 1-2-3 in the eighth inning. He got the first out in the ninth quickly as well. But then Christian Yelich worked a walk and stole second. Another walk followed before Miller recorded the second out. But then he walked Gary Sanchez, who was pinch-hitting in the nine-hole, to bring Chourio to the plate. 

There will now be second-guessing with the Padres' pitching plan. Michael King went five innings and had gone the first four without allowing a hit. He was removed after one hitter in the sixth. The Padres then had to stretch their bullpen after doing the same in Game 1. 

Now, there was plenty of justification for the move. King allowed three straight hits with two outs in the fifth inning and then hit the first batter with an errant pitch to start the sixth. The Padres bullpen is deep enough to finish four innings even without the unavailable Adrián Morejón. Miller went two innings twice this season; they just weren't save opportunities. He picked up the win in extra innings both times. There was rocky defense leading to one of the Brewers' runs, too. 

In hindsight, though, it's easy to question whether pulling King during a great outing (5 IP, H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 72 pitches) was a mistake by Padres manager Craig Stammen. 

It didn't work out. Now the Padres' backs are against the wall.