For One At-Bat, Adrian Morejon Lost Control of His Sinker—It Cost the Padres In Game 1

[Steve Drumwright]

One of the rocks of the strongest part of the San Diego Padres showed a crack in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

It cost the Friars in dramatic fashion and is likely to have a lingering effect for the remainder of the best-of-five series.

Left-hander Adrian Morejon, one of the top setup relievers in all of MLB throughout the regular season, was tagged for a game-deciding homer by William Contreras with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Contreras' no-doubt opposite-field blast broke a 2-2 tie, sending the Padres to a 3-2 loss in Game 1. Morejon nearly got a reprieve, but Ty France's potential two-run go-ahead homer hit a truss and ricocheted to left fielder Jackson Chourio for the second out of the ninth inning.

Morejon had given up just four homers over 86 innings and 76 games during the regular season. But in the most critical situation he has faced this season, he showed a flaw.

Coming in to begin the seventh, the first two batters went down on just two pitches. They just weren't any batters. They were Chourio, the leadoff hitter who had already homered in the game, and Brice Turang, the Brewers' RBI leader. Chourio smoked the first pitch toward right field, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth made a terrific diving stop and threw out the speedy outfielder. Turang hit the next pitch on a line, but right at left fielder Dustin Harris.

A good start to the inning. That brought up Contreras, who has had a knack for hitting big homers for the Brewers during his time in Milwaukee. Morejon has relied on his sinker all season as his primary pitch. That was the pitch he used to retire Chourio and Turang. Sinker was also the pitch that left-handed starter Robbie Ray had used to attack Contreras the two times he faced him.

With the first two batters of the inning going down on two pitches, Contreras was in take mode to begin the at-bat. The first sinker (99.4 mph) missed outside. Morejon went to a changeup for the second pitch that was in the dirt for ball two. Contreras just left the bat on his shoulder as Morejon grooved a 99 mph sinker to make the count 2-1. The next pitch was the most crucial before the final pitch of the at-bat. It was another sinker at 98.6 mph that was very wide to put Contreras in firm control of the count at 3-1. Morejon needed a strike to avoid a walk. Yet another sinker, this one at 99.1 mph, was above the zone and Contreras took a big hack and fouled it off.

Now, the count was full. Morejon went back to his bread-and-butter pitch to potentially get the punchout. He unleashed his fastest pitch of the night, a 101.1 mph sinker that was on the outside corner but waist-high and Contreras crushed it to right-center. It was a 406-foot blow that left Contreras' bat at 103.7 mph and just the second pitch of the at-bat that was in the strike zone. The at-bat was the only one where Morejon didn't have his best control and it cost him and the Padres dearly.

ONE. HUGE. SWING 💥 WILLIAM CONTRERAS PUTS THE @brewersbot.bsky.social IN FRONT 😤

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— MLB (@mlbbot.bsky.social) October 3, 2026 at 8:25 PM

One of the talking points all season was the Brewers' lack of hitting homers. They tied for the second-fewest homers with the Los Angeles Angels. Morejon had faced Contreras five times previously, retiring him four times, allowing an RBI single. The homer snapped an 8⅓-inning postseason scoreless streak over five games for Morejon.

Following the homer, Morejon bounced back to finish the game. He retired the next batter to finish the seventh and then had a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

While that was important for Morejon moving forward, the homer will have to weigh on the left-hander for the remainder of the season. Morejon has allowed a run in just 17 of his 76 regular-season appearances, but six of those involved multiple runs.

The Brewers suddenly have to think they have an edge on Morejon, who has paired with superstar right-handed closer Mason Miller to provide the best 1-2 back end of the bullpen in MLB this season. Morejon will be called upon in another key situation in this series, perhaps again facing Contreras.

There is no doubt manager Craig Stammen would put his big left-hander in a similar scenario again. Starting the count 2-0 against Contreras put Morejon in a bind. He nearly climbed out of it, but a bad location on the 3-2 pitch led to a devastating outcome and put the Padres down in the series.

The good news is now their ace, right-hander Michael King, will need to be as sharp as he was in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series to get the Padres a split before returning to Petco Park.

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