The major league-best Milwaukee Brewers’ first postseason test comes against the one team that’s had their number lately.
asserted
that → come → number
Milwaukee owns the best regular-season record (293-193) in the majors during manager Pat Murphy’s three-year tenure but is only 6-13 against San Diego, including a 2-4 mark this year.
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Milwaukee → own → mark
The only other teams to have winning records against Milwaukee over the last three seasons are San Francisco (11-9) and the New York Yankees (5-4), according to Sportradar.
uncertain
teams → have → Sportradar
San Diego has won 20 of its last 23 games overall and Milwaukee has won 15 of 18 heading into a best-of-five NL Division Series that starts Saturday night.
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that → win → Series
“They’re playing so well and they’re super talented, a super talented, confident team right now with, we all know, the best bullpen in baseball, with some real megastars in the lineup,” Murphy said.
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Murphy → play → lineup
“And they’re rolling.
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they → roll → ?
But that’s what you’re going to face at this time of year.”
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you → ’ → year
Game 1 has Cy Young Award front-runner Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80 ERA) starting for the Brewers and 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray (13-8, 3.59) pitching for San Diego.
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Ray → have → Diego
Game 2 features a likely matchup of San Diego’s Michael King (12-10, 3.21) and Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47).
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Game → feature → Henderson
“You have to bring your ‘A’ game, because they’re just a team that’s a headache,” Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts said.
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Bogaerts → have → game
“It’s not like a swing-and-miss (where) they’re going for the home run or nothing.
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they → ’ → run
They play good defense, run the bases, a lot of guys with speed.”
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They → play → speed
San Diego was under .500 in late July before closing the season on a tear and then sweeping the Chicago Cubs in a Wild Card Series.
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Diego → close → Series
This series features playoff perennials chasing their first World Series title.
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series → feature → title
Milwaukee has reached the postseason eight of the last nine years and made its lone World Series appearance in 1982.
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Milwaukee → reach → 1982
San Diego is making its fourth straight playoff appearance but has reached the World Series just twice, in 1984 and 1998.
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Diego → make → 1984
The Brewers went 103-59 to earn home-field advantage throughout the postseason for a second straight year.
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Brewers → go → year
The Los Angeles Dodgers swept Milwaukee in last year’s NL Championship Series.
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Dodgers → sweep → Series
“When I think back to last year, I think there was an element of maybe a little bit of lack of belief that we could do it, maybe a little too much doubt,” Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers sad.
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Bauers → think → it
“And I think going into this postseason there’s a different feeling around the team.
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I → think → team
I think there’s been a concerted effort to make sure that everybody in the room knows what we’re capable of, and that it doesn’t require anybody to do something that they’re not able to do.”
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they → think → that
The series could have as many as five starting position players under the age of 24: San Diego’s Ethan Salas (20) and Jackson Merrill (23) and Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio (22), Cooper Pratt (22) and Luis Lara (21).
uncertain
series → have → 24
Salas became the youngest catcher to play a postseason game when he started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series.
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he → become → Series
San Diego’s bullpen includes 22-year-old Bradgley Rodriguez.
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bullpen → include → Rodriguez
Misiorowski to make his first playoff start
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Misiorowski → make → start
Misiorowski went 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three postseason relief appearances last year.
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Misiorowski → go → appearances
In his lone career appearance against the Padres, Misiorowski struck out 10 and allowed four hits and no walks in seven shutout innings on May 13.
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Misiorowski → strike → May
Visiting San Diego won 3-1 after Gavin Sheets hit a three-run homer off Abner Uribe with two outs in the ninth inning.
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Sheets → visit → inning
The Padres acquired him from San Francisco at the trade deadline.
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Padres → acquire → deadline
“I think he’s going to do well against this lineup,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said.
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Stammen → think → lineup
“As far as how far he goes or how long, he’ll determine a lot of that, how well he pitches.
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he → go → that
And we know with Robbie, he can be erratic at times.
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he → know → times
If he’s throwing strikes, I feel good about Robbie being in there.”
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Robbie → throw → strikes
Murphy facing his former team
San Diego gave Murphy his first MLB managerial opportunity.
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Diego → face → opportunity
He went 42-54 as the Padres’ interim manager in 2015 after the firing of Bud Black.
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He → go → Black
Rather than keeping Murphy beyond that season, Padres general manager A.J. Preller hired Andy Green.
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Preller → keep → Green
“I wouldn’t have retained me then either, you know what I mean?” Murphy said.
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Murphy → retain → what
“I wasn’t ready to be the major league manager he needed.”
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he → need → ?
Watch out for the bullpens
Getting an early lead could be imperative because of the effectiveness of both bullpens.
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Getting → watch → bullpens
San Diego has arguably the game’s best reliever in Mason Miller, who posted a 1.67 ERA while striking out 47.4% of the hitters he faced and limiting opponents to a .152 batting average.
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he → have → average
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
