Padres-Brewers NL Division Series Game 4 Matchup By The Numbers

[Steve Drumwright]

After a season-saving performance by a starting pitcher in a relief role, the San Diego Padres are turning to their most postseason-tested pitcher to force a decisive Game 5 in the NL Division Series.

Right-hander Walker Buehler is the starting pitcher for the Padres in Wednesday's Game 4 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park (7:08 p.m., FS1). The other options are left-hander Robbie Ray and right-hander Joe Musgrove. Both of those pitchers, though, were warming up in the bullpen during the frantic ninth inning of Game 3, a 4-3 Padres win that staved off elimination for the first time this postseason. That could be indicative of their role for Game 4.

Buehler, who, like Pivetta in Game 3, will have a short leash, has 19 games of postseason experience, all but one a start. It is mostly a good track record, although he has four blowup outings of four or more runs. Two of those came in his first two playoff appearances in 2018, with the last one coming in his first of four games in 2024. Buehler also notched the final out of the 2024 World Series.

Three of those 19 postseason games have come against the Brewers, two in the 2018 NL Championship Series and the other in the 2020 NL Wild Card Series. The most crucial of those was Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS, where he went 4⅔ innings, allowing a run on six hits and no walks while punching out seven. That one run was a first-inning homer by Christian Yelich, who would not drive in another postseason run until Tuesday's Game 3.

Buehler faced the Brewers once this season. In an 11-2 win on Aug. 11 at Petco Park, Buehler tossed six innings, giving up a run on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

There is a very small sample size of the Brewers against Buehler during the regular season. Yelich is the only Brewer on the current roster with even six plate appearances vs. Buehler. Yelich is 2-for-6, Garrett Mitchell is 1-for-3 with two walks, Jackson Chourio is 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.

Walker Buehler vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Current Batters Table

Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GIDP
1	Christian Yelich	L	6	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.333	.333	.333	.667	0	0	0	0	0
2	Jake Bauers	L	5	5	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	.200	.200	.800	1.000	0	0	0	0	0
3	William Contreras	R	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.200	.000	.200	0	0	0	0	0
4	Garrett Mitchell	L	5	3	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	.333	.600	.333	.933	0	0	0	0	0
5	Brice Turang	L	5	4	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	.250	.400	.750	1.150	0	0	0	0	0
6	Jackson Chourio	R	4	3	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	.333	.500	.333	.833	0	0	0	0	0
7	Bo Naylor	L	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333	0	0	0	0	0
8	Sal Frelick	L	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0	0	0	0	0
9	David Hamilton	L	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0	0	0	0	0
10	Luis Lara	B	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
11	Joey Ortiz	R	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
12	Brandon Lockridge	R	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000	0	0	0	0	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/7/2026.

The Brewers are going with left-hander Robert Gasser, a former Padres prospect who was shipped to Milwaukee in the Josh Hader deal at the 2022 trade deadline.

Gasser doesn't have much of a track record against the Padres. In fact, he has faced just one of the current Padres hitters. That is Gavin Sheets, whom Gasser faced in a 2024 start when Sheets was with the Chicago White Sox. Sheets homered in one of his two at-bats, striking out in the other.

Gasser made two opener-type starts in the 2025 postseason, going three innings in one and 2⅔ innings in the other. This year, Gasser was a solid performer in the Brewers' rotation. He started the season at Triple-A Nashville and was yo-yo'd a few times. He had a 4.24 FIP (3.87 ERA) in 109⅓ innings, with a good 7.6% walk rate and a 22.2% strikeout rate, right at the MLB average. However, he had a 1.67 ERA over his final six outings. He is capable of going deep, having pitched seven shutout innings in his next-to-last start of the regular season, a 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, but with the Brewers' bullpen in decent shape, the hook will be quick.

Robert Gasser vs. San Diego Padres: Current Batters Table

Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GIDP
1	Gavin Sheets	L	2	2	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	.500	.500	2.000	2.500	0	0	0	0	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/7/2026.

 

View full article