NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 3, 2026

Michael King

American Family Field

San Diego Padres

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. All but one of your postseason (indiscernible). What's the mentality going into a hostile environment?

MICHAEL KING: I don't know if there's much of a difference. I think as a competitor, it's just as exciting to hear your home fans cheer as it is to hear it silent in an opposing park. That's obviously the goal, to get the momentum quick, play Padre baseball and stay on the attack.

Q. You had a no-hitter pretty deep in the last game. How aware of that were you?

MICHAEL KING: I knew it in the bullpen before the game. I think that if a pitcher tells you he doesn't no that he's got a no-hitter, perfect game or one of those things going on, then they're lying to you.

The goal every time out is to throw a perfect game. So, yeah, if I give up a lead-off single, well there goes the perfect game. So I realized that I didn't have one of those for a while so I was very aware of it.

Q. And you're aware of postseason no-hitter history?

MICHAEL KING: It definitely makes it a little bit cooler. But a W at the end of the day is all we're looking for. So excited to attempt another perfect game tomorrow.

Q. As a fellow pitcher, your thoughts on Jacob Misiorowski and what you appreciate about his style of play?

MICHAEL KING: Yeah, we watched them carve us in April or May, whenever that was early in the year. It's obviously explosive. He gets so far down the mound. With that velocity makes it even harder to square up.

Obviously it will be a good challenge for our hitters. We've been the hottest team in baseball for the last few months, so I think it will be strength on strength. And I know our hitters will rise to the occasion.

Looking forward to that challenge. And obviously I give credit where credit's due. He's a phenomenal pitcher. He's probably going to be a unanimous Cy Young. But I'd like it if our hitters could get to him in the postseason.

Q. Obviously every team is different and all that, but with the Cubs and the Brewers, a little bit of overlap maybe in terms of the walks and kind of their swing decisions, approach, that sort of thing at the plate. Is there anything there that can maybe carry over from the last one?

MICHAEL KING: Yeah, a little bit. I think, where are the Brewers, second in runs per game behind the Cubs? So they obviously play a good brand of baseball. A lot of guys don't chase. A lot of guys put the ball in play. Got a high walk rate.

Kind of goes back to the same thing -- we've got to execute fastballs to the edges, and that will get them to get out of their game plan and start to chase.

If they aren't chasing, then we've got to make sure that we get soft contact in zone. It's all about knowing where all of those zones are and being able to exploit it and change based on what we're seeing in this Game 1.

Q. Touched on this a second ago, but you obviously get juice from the Petco Park crowd being with you. Can it be the same thing with an opposing crowd, that you can take the energy from them even as a little bit more vitriol in it?

MICHAEL KING: Yeah, it's always a good time when you can hear your own dugout in an opposing stadium because that means that the fans are not loud enough for us to go. And we had a lot of energy in that dugout. I'm sure you guys could hear Pivetta from the press box.

So it's a very fun thing, that when you make a pitch in a big moment and that crowd shuts down and the dugout goes nuts, it -- I don't want to say it equally gives me that same amount of adrenaline, but definitely you feel that energy.

Q. What was going on with the PitchCom? What was that like being in the middle of a playoff no-hitter with all that happening in that moment?

MICHAEL KING: I didn't really think about the moment. But no, I was calling a pitch that Campy's PitchCom wasn't registering. So it was actually the pitch before I called the slider. And as I started my delivery I saw him go to the PitchCom, like, he didn't know that I already called the pitch. But threw a slider and Campy caught it and it was a swing and miss. So I said maybe he was just thinking of a different pitch.

And then I went right back and called the sweeper and he immediately called time. And he was, like, I know you're going to the PitchCom but I can't hear anything. I talked to our infielders. They could hear it because they got one in.

And so I think it was his PitchCom, but then they brought out my PitchCom. And then I said, no, it's the transmitter. And they brought out Campy's transmitter. So then I was, like, no, it's my transmitter. They finally got it out to me. A little snafu, but it was all good.

Q. Then just generally speaking, I know you touched on what the Brewers do well, but facing this offense that obviously likes to put pressure on you on the bases, that kind of thing, what kind of challenge does it present?

MICHAEL KING: Definitely brings you back to the fundamentals of baseball -- long holds, quick to the plate, field in your position. They put the pressure on.

And similar to what I was saying, we want to play Padre baseball. They're going to try to make us play that Brewer style of baseball. And if they can speed it up and speed me up on the mound, then they're gonna win.

So it's all about slowing the game down, making sure that I stay in control and we stay in control as a defense to shut down there, I guess I'll call them antics, but it's just playing baseball well.

Q. You said earlier that you guys just need to come here and play Padres baseball. Obviously this season, two halves of the season that the results at least were a little different. I know you only control one element of the game. But to you, right now, with the way you guys have played, what is Padres baseball right now, the way you guys are playing?

MICHAEL KING: I think it's a lot of confidence. It's setting the tone early. You see Tati getting a homer on the first pitch, that shuts a crowd down pretty quickly. I think that if we limit stolen bases, that shuts them down. If we keep the corners in, play bunt defense pretty well, that shuts them down.

They're a contact team with not a ton of slug, but making sure that they're not stringing together four or five hits in a game to make that big inning go.

It's really just sticking to our own game plan of this is what we do well pitching, this is what we do well hitting. Keeping the energy up in a road environment, and trying to stick it to them the best we can.

Q. Do you think there's any challenges for Robbie considering he probably found out about this start a little later than normal with Walker going to the paternity list?

MICHAEL KING: He's a pro. I think he was ready for whatever role was handed to him. He was in the bullpen in the Wild Card Game 1 and 2. I also think he probably had somewhat of an idea so he was going to be prepared regardless of the decision that was made or regardless of Walker's wife's pregnancy.

So I've got a ton of faith in him. He's been an awesome addition to the clubhouse since he came over. I would say he's a big-game pitcher. He knows how to get out of big situations. So I'm looking forward to a little bit of a roar after a big punch-out.

Q. What, if anything, changes about your mentality when you're given a early lead, just like in the last game that you pitched?

MICHAEL KING: You attack the zone a lot more. You almost have the freedom to do that. I said it before, when I have a long 30-, 40-pitch inning, I want a breather in the dugout. And the hitters know that, so they're probably gonna take first pitch, so you know you can steal strike one a lot easier than you normally can.

When you do get a big enough lead, a four-plus-run lead, the base running usually shuts down. They're a little bit more station-to-station. They're not gonna steal as many bags, so now my attention can go strictly on the hitter instead of knowing everything else that's going on around me. So definitely makes my job a lot easier.

And you also can pitch in the freedom of, like, if we're up by four and I give up a solo shot it doesn't hurt us. So in those circumstances, no walks, get strike one and make sure they can't string together a few hits.