Padres left wondering what could have been after NLDS exit: 'It stings'

SAN DIEGO -- Every postseason exit hurts. They may hurt for different reasons. They all hurt.

This one, most of all, is going to hurt because of what could have been.

And maybe the cruelest of all: A potential game-tying, season-saving, bedlam-inducing home run from the bat of Manny Machado, taken away at the wall by Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell in Game 4.

Just like that, the Padres’ season was over. They dropped Game 4 of the NLDS to Milwaukee, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Petco Park. They lost the series by the same tally. So easily, it could have been different.

“It burns," said Machado. “It's pain. This team, we fought all year, dealt with a lot as a group. Overcame a lot. It stings right now, for sure. But at the same time, proud of these guys, what they've accomplished, what they've done, what we did this year -- a lot of great things. 

“Unfortunate. It just didn't go our way. But take the punch, and enjoy the ride that we had.”

This wasn’t 2024, when the Padres came apart in the two biggest games of their season. It wasn’t ‘25, when they fizzled, never quite reaching the gear you thought they might. These Padres could have beaten the Brewers. For years, San Diegans will swear that they should have.

They did not. For the first time in 111 years, a postseason series featured two teams that were never separated by more than two runs in any game. And the Padres came out on the losing end of it.

“It was a heavyweight battle,” said France. “They were the best team in baseball for a reason, and … we went punch-for-punch with them.”

The Padres weren’t making any excuses afterward, fully crediting the 103-win Brewers as deserving winners. Still, France and so many others will always believe, deep down, that his Game 1 fly ball would have been a go-ahead home run, had it not struck that cable. On Wednesday night, Brewers manager Pat Murphy wasn’t disputing that.

“The Padres, they’re a great team,” Murphy said. “They could have won it all, but that's just the postseason. The ball doesn't bounce your way. [Legendary late Brewers broadcaster Bob] Uecker knocks that ball down out of the rafters. And it's a different series. Chourio gets the hit off Miller, and it's a different series.

“So believe me, that team right there can beat anybody in baseball. I'm just grateful we got through.”

With time, the disappointment will be complemented by an appreciation that the Padres got here in the first place. Three games below .500 in late July, they stormed into the postseason with a scorching hot finish, then played six deeply memorable postseason games.

And yet, the wait goes on. There’s never been an era of Padres baseball quite like this one. They’ve reached the postseason in three straight years and five of seven. But this era still lacks its crowning achievement -- the first World Series title in franchise history.

“A lot to be proud of this year,” said manager Craig Stammen. “A lot to go home and say: ‘Yeah, we did a pretty good job.’ But also, we're not satisfied. We're not satisfied until we finally bring that championship to San Diego. But this year made us one step closer.”

An offseason full of questions lies ahead. The futures of Adrian Morejon, Ty France and Michael King are chief among those questions. In the aftermath of Wednesday’s defeat, all three expressed a desire to return.

After the final out, Morejon ambled slowly from the left-center-field bullpen, teary-eyed, toward the home clubhouse. Standing at his locker a few minutes later, he explained that after he’d thrown 31 pitches in a Game 1 loss, his shoulder began to feel sore. He played catch before Games 3 and 4. The soreness wouldn’t subside. On Wednesday, he told pitching coach Ruben Niebla that he had an inning in him, even if it might not be his best. The Padres chose to stay away. 

“I start thinking of everything for the last 10 years,” said Morejon. “... I feel like I’ve grown up in this organization.”

Without Morejon, the Padres had to piece it all together. It worked in Game 3. In Game 4, well, they did what they could. By the middle innings, it started to become clear: This vaunted bullpen was running out of gas, having covered such a heavy workload in the first three games.

The Padres had dug themselves a two-run deficit, with Fernando Tatis Jr.'s third-inning home run serving as their only offense against Brewers starter Robert Gasser. (And, really, that’s where this game was lost.)

Musgrove roared as he left the mound. “All The Small Things” blared. Tatis immediately worked a leadoff walk. And Machado put a truly excellent swing on an Abner Uribe fastball.

Machado leaned back in the batter’s box, the way he does when he knows he’s gotten a hold of one. But Mitchell ranged toward the wall, and, channeling his inner Adam Jones, made the catch.

“Nice play,” Machado said afterward. “Should have hit it harder.”

When the ball landed in Mitchell’s glove, Machado grabbed his head with both hands and lifted his helmet. His exasperated look said it all. 

Wasn’t their night. Wasn’t their series. Wasn’t their year. And what hurt most is that it could have been.