Padres Walk-Off Brewers to Complete Sweep, Move Into Wild-Card Spot

The San Diego Padres are officially in sole possession of the No. 5 seed in the National League.

On Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park, the Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers in walk-off 4-3 fashion to complete an impressive three-game sweep over Major League Baseball's best team.

THE SAN DIEGO PADRES WALK OFF THE BREWERS, COMPLETE THE SWEEP AND ARE IN SOLE POSSESSION OF THE SECOND WILD CARD SPOT!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! pic.twitter.com/2uxXPQzh2v
— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) August 12, 2026

Thanks to losses by the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks, the Padres are now the second wild-card team. Philadelphia has dropped out of playoff positioning, with Arizona holding the No. 6 seed.

Padres vs Brewers Game Recap

Wednesday's game started off as a pitchers' duel between two trade deadline acquisitions.

Left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray was making his second start as a Padre, while right-hander Dustin May was making his second as a Brewer.

The Brewers struck first in the top of the second inning thanks to a home run by former Padre Gary Sanchez. Milwaukee added on in the third inning on an RBI single from Brice Turang.

In the bottom of the third inning, Xander Bogaerts got San Diego on the board with his 500th hit as a Padre, a 415-foot home run that came off his bat at 105.1 mph.

Enter Xan Man 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WcXnWeXw79
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 12, 2026

That would be all San Diego could muster against May, who was done after seven-plus innings with four hits allowed and six strikeouts.

As for Ray, he wasn't as dominant as May, but was able to limit the damage. Ray lasted just four innings, but only allowed the two runs while working around tons of traffic. He struck out four while walking three.

The Padres handed the game off to the bullpen in the fifth inning, and right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez took down six huge outs. Then, Jeremiah Estrada pitched a perfect seventh, while Kyle Hart worked around two walks in a scoreless eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Padres manufactured a run with two outs.

Fernando Tatis Jr. pinch-hit for Freddy Fermin and earned a two-out walk. Luis Rengifo also walked, bringing up Jake Cronenworth, who tied the game by beating out an infield single that brought Tatis home.

Pedal to the metal. pic.twitter.com/rkRR4vt5jv
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 12, 2026

In the top of the ninth inning, the Padres brought on All-Star closer Mason Miller, who struggled with his command, allowing two walks. However, with two on and one out, he got Jackson Chourio to fly out and Turang to strike out, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth inning tied at two.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Padres were in position to win it with Jackson Merrill hitting a one-out double. However, Jase Bowen was robbed of a two-out, walk-off hit, sending the game to extra innings.

Garrett Mitchell makes a wonderful catch to send the game to extras 👏 pic.twitter.com/miZbuGPwX4
— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2026

Adrian Morejon shut the Brewers down in the 10th inning, thanks to some help from Luis Campusano, who threw out a would-be base stealer at third base.

Then, in the bottom of the 10th, the Padres also couldn't bring a run home, sending the game to the 11th.

Morejon allowed a run in the 11th but was able to pitch around tons of traffic and limit the damage to just one. Merrill then tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th, but was robbed of another potential walk-off on a great catch in right field by Luis Lara.

However, that was only the second out of the inning, and Sung-Mun Song stole second base, setting up Campusano for a walk-off RBI single.

Got our foot up on the gas, but somebody gotta do it. pic.twitter.com/XssfqxBceu
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 13, 2026

The Padres are now 65-57 and in playoff position for the first time since June 27.

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