Padres Must Accomplish More Than Just Saving Their Season In Game 4 of NLDS With Jacob Misiorowski Looming

The San Diego Padres fought hard for a huge Game 3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night, keeping their season alive and putting themselves in position to force a winner-takes-all Game 5. But the job is far from over.

If the Padres are going to make that Game 5 a reality, they have to get it done once again tonight at Petco Park. There are obviously plenty of things that need to go right for San Diego to come away with another win, but one of the biggest could be forcing Milwaukee to turn to their bullpen sooner than they would like. There are multiple reasons why that could be so important.

For one, the Brewers only got three innings out of Dustin May in Game 3. They had to piece together the final five innings with four different bullpen arms. That could have a pretty significant impact on Pat Murphy’s plans tonight, especially considering the varying workloads those relievers took on Tuesday. Abner Uribe threw just seven pitches, and Antonio Senzatela only needed 14. But D.L. Hall and JoJo Romero each threw around 30, altering the Game 4 picture.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Hall and Romero won’t be available tonight, but Murphy may have to be a little more selective with how he uses them. And if San Diego can force Milwaukee to turn to those arms again, or just make Murphy burn through more of his bullpen earlier than he’d like, it could put the Brewers in a much more difficult spot as this series moves forward.

There’s also the fact that, should the Padres force a Game 5 on Friday, it lines up perfectly for Jacob Misiorowski to take the mound for Milwaukee. Misiorowski threw 88 pitches in Game 1 on Saturday, meaning Friday would mark six days of rest between starts. That’s about as ideal of a setup as the Brewers could ask for with their young flamethrower, and it’s never exactly fun having to face the guy who sits around 101 MPH with a ton of run on his fastball, especially twice in the same series.

At the same time, though, it’s difficult to have success against the same team twice in one week. The Padres already showed they can do some damage against Misiorowski, putting up two earned runs against him over four innings in Game 1. He certainly wasn't terrible, but he wasn't his usual dominant self, either. Getting Misiorowski on an island in Game 5 would be a much better scenario for San Diego than allowing Milwaukee to have their choice of fresh late-game arms available behind him. If the Padres can force the Brewers to use some of their best relievers tonight, they could potentially make the Game 5 pitching situation much more manageable.

And there’s another wrinkle to all of this. If (hopefully when) San Diego wins tonight, there will be a travel day on Thursday as both teams head back to Milwaukee for Game 5. That means both bullpens will have a built-in day of rest heading into the deciding game. Pat Murphy has leaned heavily on his bullpen throughout this series, but the travel day means Milwaukee won't necessarily be punished for using some of those arms tonight. Instead, not getting to the Brewers' bullpen early could actually allow that group to enter Game 5 even fresher than it otherwise would have been.

Fortunately for San Diego, there is reason to believe they can force the issue tonight. Craig Stammen has shown throughout the season that he’s not afraid to play the matchups, and Milwaukee has already used all of their right-handed starters through the first three games of this series. That could open the door for Stammen to really utilize San Diego's platoon options and force the Brewers to counter with some uncomfortable decisions of their own.

With Robert Gasser grabbing the start tonight, expect a very right-handed-heavy lineup from the Padres. And once that starter exits, Stammen could lean on his bench early and often to keep those favorable matchups coming.

The Padres don't necessarily need to score 10 runs or blow the game open in the first few innings. They just need to make Milwaukee uncomfortable. Make the Brewers burn through some of their bullpen, make Murphy use pitchers he would rather save, and force him to make decisions earlier than he wants to. Because the more work Milwaukee's bullpen has to do tonight, the more pressure could fall on Misiorowski if these teams meet again Friday.

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