In their first game of the season in Milwaukee, the Padres continued to show the tenacity that has them forging an identity.

The San Diego Padres came back from an early deficit to win a ballgame. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before.

San Diego completed their fourth win in five games with a 7-3 comeback win against the 12-4 Milwaukee Brewers.

As is the case in comeback wins, the Brewers did not make it easy to start. It was something of a difficult start to the game for Padres righty Joe Musgrove. Following a lead-off walk and single, a one-out single by Willy Adames made it a 1-0 lead for Milwaukee. Musgrove was able to escape a bases-loaded jam by inducing a double play ball from Brice Turang but threw 21 pitches in the inning. Musgrove would give up two runs in the second on a two-run homer by rookie phenom Jackson Chourio to make the score 3-0.

The Padres would battle back in the fourth inning, with a fielder’s choice by Ha-Seong Kim would make it a 3-1 ballgame against Joe Ross. Ross was cruising early on in the game but would run into troubles in the fifth inning. Three singles by the Friars loaded the bases with no outs, and a groundout by Fernando Tatis Jr would make it a one-run ballgame.

A passed ball by William Contreras would tie the game at three apiece. Manny Machado would then hit a sharp grounder up the middle at 103.9 miles per hour, where Brewers second baseman Brice Turang made a ranging play to keep the ball on the infield. However, the behind-the-back toss to Willy Adames was misplayed, scoring Xander Bogaerts to make it 4-3.

After a walk and a strikeout, Padres rookie Jackson Merrill blooped a single into left-center field, scoring two runs. Luis Campusano would then hit his second single of the inning to score the seventh run for the Padres, chasing Joe Ross from the game after 4 ⅔ innings.

Joe Musgrove would run into a jam in the sixth, walking two batters with one out. With two on and one out, Rhys Hoskins would get on top of a Musgrove curveball, grounding into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. Musgrove would go six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, with three strikeouts to four walks.

The Padres’ bullpen would hold the Brewers scoreless the rest of the way, with Enyel De Los Santos throwing a scoreless seventh and Stephen Kolek tossing 1 ⅔ innings. The Brewers would mount something of a rally against Kolek, bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle. With two on and two out, Mike Shildt called for his closer, and Robert Suarez came in and recorded the final out of the ballgame on a flyball to Jurickson Profar in left field.

An effort worth highlighting was that of Jackson Merrill, who had his second consecutive three-hit game, being the youngest player in Padre history to accomplish that feat (as seen on the Padres postgame show).

The Padres look to build upon this win tomorrow with Dylan Cease on the mound. The first pitch is at 4:40 pm Pacific Time from American Family Field in Milwaukee.

Diego Garcia

I am a proud lifetime San Diegan. Currently a student at San Diego State, I’ve been a Padres & baseball fan my entire life, and have been involved with baseball (be it writing, coaching, content creation) continuously since 2018. I’m big on baseball statistics, statistical analysis, and sports strategy.

Outside of sports and baseball, I’m a musician and aspiring music educator residing in San Diego