Contreras delivers key hit in Brewers’ NLDS Game 1 victory

MILWAUKEE -- William Contreras didn’t have to hustle down the line on this one. The Brewers were happy to watch him trot. In the NLDS Game 1 on Saturday night at American Family Field, the All-Star catcher connected for a go-ahead solo shot in the seventh inning, leading the Brewers to a 3-2 win over the Padres. Contreras, who had been benched for failing to hustle during the last week of the regular season, demonstrated that the postseason offers a clean slate.

"These are the type of games that I like," Contreras said through an interpreter. "I like playing in these intense games. Fortunately, we were able to play our brand of baseball both offensively and defensively. So, this is the first of many to come."

In the top of the ninth inning, with one on and one out against closer Trevor Megill, Ty France hit a deep drive to left field that struck the cables on the ballpark's roof. Whether it was headed fair or foul was impossible to tell, but there was a good chance it would have left the yard. Instead, the ball ended up in left fielder Jackson Chourio's glove and was ruled an out upon replay review. The Brewers secured the win after this play.

"At first, it was, ‘Oh, crap.’ And then the home-plate umpire came up and said it was live no matter what," Megill remarked. "Four years in this stadium, I’ve never seen that before. Just glad it worked in our favor."

Despite four shaky innings from ace starter Jacob Misiorowski, the Brewers managed to win. They also received a tying, two-run homer from Chourio off Padres starter Robbie Ray in the third inning, making Chourio, at just 22 years old, Milwaukee’s all-time leader with five postseason home runs. Contreras delivered the go-ahead shot off Padres’ ace setup man Adrian Morejon, who had yielded only four home runs in 86 innings during the regular season.

Contreras, a pivotal member of the Brewers' run prevention unit and the Major League Baseball leader in innings caught during the regular season, also established a Brewers record this season with 89 RBIs while playing catcher.

Despite having his commitment questioned during the last series of the regular season in Philadelphia, when he did not hustle to first base, Contreras responded positively. After being pulled from a game, he dove headfirst into first base on his next at-bat, impressing manager Pat Murphy.

Left-hander DL Hall, who rose to a high-leverage role late in the regular season, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning and secured the first two outs of the eighth. He handed over the game to Megill, who struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to preserve the lead and managed to navigate through the unpredictable France flyout in the ninth.

With this victory, the Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Historically, teams taking a 1-0 lead have won the series 116 out of 160 times (73%), and in Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, home teams have won 42 of 56 times (75%) when leading 1-0.