NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 4, 2026

Jake Cronenworth

American Family Field

San Diego Padres

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. How has the team kind of processed last night's result, knowing what could have been and the way it ended and the fact that you have to move on to Game 2?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: I think that's the biggest thing, we've got to move on today. Obviously it stinks, score two runs off their guy and thought we took great at-bats all night and played great defense. For it to end that way, it ends that way. But can't dwell on it, obviously.

Q. The quality of bullpens in this series on both sides, I guess from your perspective as a hitter, what's it like facing quality arm after quality arm like that?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: I think that's kind of what we expect once you get to the postseason. It's the best guys in the best spots. We've just got to continue to take good at-bats.

We had our chances last night, didn't come through. And they had that one big hit. I think more often than not, we keep putting guys on base and guys in scoring position, it's going to come through for us.

Q. Jake, your team hasn't lost back-to-back games in a while. Obviously that's now paramount in this situation. Can you speak to why you feel like one loss hasn't affected the next day in the last month, month and a half?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: I think it's the experience in the room. I think it's the way we've been playing. I think it's, honestly, just been the way we've been playing.

Again, kind of similar to what I answered A.J.'s question with, when we put guys on base, whether it happens that night or it happens the next night, the more often you do that, it's going to happen.

But the way we've been playing has been awesome. From 1 through 9 in the lineup, the guys off the bench, the defense, the starting pitching, the bullpen, it's a good recipe to win baseball games.

Q. With Michael King going today, he has three playoff starts, three wins. Just share a little bit of the confidence you have in him going in today's game?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: I think the biggest thing with Mike is he sets the tone, and obviously we saw it in San Diego in the Wild Card series. He pounds the zone and keeps those guys off balance. And he gets us back in that dugout really fast, which is huge, especially with the way we're swinging the bats.

No, it's awesome to see him out there on the mound, and the guy puts the ball in play and allows us to play good defense behind him. I think that's kind of why he's in the zone. He trusts us behind him. He's the guy for a reason.

Q. Speaking of the bullpens, you got a look at a lot of their high-leverage arms yesterday, just like they did with you guys. But a fresh look at somebody when you're probably going to see a lot of pitching changes in a playoff series, can that help offensively at all?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: Yeah, 100 percent. We haven't seen these guys since, I think, early August, and obviously they've acquired some guys in the deadline, and we saw a few of them at our place.

But both teams are in different spots. But I think it's good to see some of those guys seeing the spots they pitch in, kind of knowing when they're going to come in, and plan and prepare for those spots and those moments for whoever's gonna get a certain guy.

Q. Seemed like you guys had a very clear game plan against Misiorowski and it was working for the most part, chipping away at his pitches for a while there. Can you speak just to the versatility you guys showed as an offense there and the challenge that bullpen presents when you're seeing a new arm every inning?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: Yeah, seeing a new arm every inning, I feel that's the recipe for playoff baseball now. And we've seen it the last few years with some of the teams we've played. It seems like no matter if you get that starter out in the third inning, you're gonna be facing a new guy every time.

I feel like we've been playing games kind of like that here these last few weeks. We're prepared for those spots. And it's just preparing and planning for those guys.

Kind of know when you're gonna get a certain guy in a certain spot depending on the inning and the situation. But back to the first question, I thought we took amazing at-bats off of Miz. Obviously his year and his stuff speak for themselves, it's top-notch. Probably gonna end up winning the Cy Young.

But I thought the at-bats we took off him were really, really good. I mean, to get him out there in the fourth inning and get to their bullpen was huge.

Q. How do you think it can help you guys with the fact that the game went so late last night, we're back here, like it feels like two hours later, just to be able to flush it and move on quickly?

JAKE CRONENWORTH: There's no room to dwell on it. Again, we start here in two and a half hours. Last night's last night. We played a great game. We had our chances and we didn't come through. They had one big hit. But there's no time to dwell on that. We got a game here in two and a half hours, and go out and play good baseball.