NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 4, 2026

Sal Frelick

Christian Yelich

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 2 Press Conference

Brewers - 4, Padres - 3

Q. You've talked about what Miller's bringing to the table and the kind of stuff you have to face there. What kind of approach did you guys have in that inning and what were you guys seeing in the box that allowed you to work some of those long at-bats?

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Just grind, man, just find a way to get on there. Doesn't matter how, whether it's a walk or a hit. We just want some traffic in that inning there and just see what happens.

We believe in our team, we believe in ourselves. And we knew that we were going to put up a fight there and see what happened.

SAL FRELICK: Guys like that don't give up multiple hits in innings very often. He was tasked with six outs today. So wanted to kind of put the pressure on him, see if we could get some guys on.

And Yeli had just a tremendous at-bat there. And I was just really trying to pass it to the next guy. Maybe get a guy in scoring position and see if he gets a knock. So I just thought it was great at-bats all around.

Q. Twice now in back-to-back nights you guys have come from behind, you've been able to now go to San Diego up 2-0, best possible scenario. What does it say about this team to be able to rally late like you did especially off of that bullpen?

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Just finding a way. I don't think we played our cleanest today. It definitely wasn't our best game, but we were able to kind of just keep grinding and find a way to salvage it and pull it out there at the end.

Last night, just a big swing from Jackson again just to kind of pull us to even. And once we feel it's even, it's anybody's game, and just find a way to push that next one across.

But just a credit to the guys. We've been doing it all year, just being tough and finding ways to get the job done. Nobody cares who it is, who gets it done, just in those situations, you know what you've got to do. So just kind of find a way.

It was just great at-bats in the ninth inning there from everybody. Vaughny and Gary come off the bench cold and face maybe the best closer in the game, throwing 102, 103. That's not easy. Sal's walk and then Jackson gets up there, you feel pretty good about it, that he's going to put together a great at-bat and hit something hard.

Q. As you guys are out there sort of on your islands watching that Chourio at-bat unfold pitch by pitch, what are you thinking? And is there any moment within that at-bat that you thought something might be -- something that stood out to you?

SAL FRELICK: Yeah, I mean, honestly it started with Gary, right? Like Yeli said, coming off the bench is really hard to do, especially to hit against one of the best in the game. And he went down two strikes, worked it back to even and took a really, really tough ball four, which would have been an easy pitch to swing.

And when you see a guy like that do that and then pass the bat to Jackson you kind of start to feel that momentum. Like, that walk really fed into that at-bat for Jackson. And then, again, Jackson went down in the count, two strikes, took an unbelievable curveball, strike to ball to get it back to even.

That's what you try to do when you go down against those guys, to try to get back to level ground, even ground. And taking those pitches he did. And after he took that slider down and way, I felt really good about it.

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah, you're just thinking about your job at that time on the bases, making sure you know where fielders are, and outfielders and infielders making sure that you're not the guy that's gonna mess up on the bases because you got too caught up in the situation.

So you're just making sure I know where everybody's at. All right, what's going on, situation. That whole deal -- like Sal said, the strike-to-ball breaking ball take was just an unbelievable take from Jackson there that kind of gets lost in the at-bat after the end result.

But just good at-bat after good at-bat after good at-bat is kind of what we've done this year. At times when we're at our best, just quality at-bats and just putting pressure on the other team. And eventually somebody coming through. But yeah, just a great ninth inning.

Q. Sal, a quick one and then a followup. Did you know that you had a challenge in that at-bat, or were you questioning whether you had a challenge?

SAL FRELICK: I just immediately went to the head after the pitch and was, like, challenge. I don't think he heard me it was loud. I was, like, do we have a challenge. And he was, like, yeah, so he let me challenge. So it was one of those like --

Q. Can you take us through what goes through your head from second base to score on that? Murph talked about the great cut at third because it's hit hard. It's going to be tight.

SAL FRELICK: Yeah, I mean, the guy on the mound was throwing hard, and the guy at the plate hits the ball hard. So I had a good feeling that on a hit it was probably going to be a close play at the plate.

Again, this is the stuff we take pride in. This is the stuff that we practice every day in Spring Training is cutting the corner at third base and not getting too wide and how much time you lose. But it's the attention to detail that is instilled in our culture, stuff that I learned from this guy when I first got called up, like, if you're not doing it you don't play.

That's just part of it. There wasn't really a consciousness to do it because it's just kind of ingrained in you. I knew if Jackson got a hold of one and put one through, it was gonna be a close play. So yeah, I was able to score.

Q. For both of you guys, the first eight innings of this game did this feel uncharacteristic for you, the infield miscues? Like I'm curious the level of frustration you guys were feeling with how that game was unfolding?

CHRISTIAN YELICH: I mean, we feel like probably didn't play like our best, cleanest game. And it happens, though, and you just gotta flush it. You can't dwell on it while the game's happening. I think that would be something that you'd look at after the game like all right where did this go wrong, if it went wrong?

And it was, we felt like we might have beat ourselves a little bit or just didn't get it done.

But you kind of pushed that out in the moment. But just keep grinding and be, like, we're still in this thing, find a way to win. You're not really dwelling on what went wrong so far. It's more so like, all right, what do we gotta do here to win and find a way.

So I think that's what everybody in the dugout was talking about, was just finding a way, having good at-bats, what do we need to do right now to close the gap with the lead? And, you know, obviously the ninth inning happened. This guy scored. Tried to tackle him. Massachusetts Gatorade Football Player of the Year broke the tackle, and then it was on to go find Jack-Jack at second base.

Q. Christian, you said before that you just feel good when Jackson comes to the plate in that scenario. What about it in the last year, the last two years has given you confidence that each time he comes up he's going to come through?

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Just from watching it every day. We watched it all season in big spots. Just how much he's grown and matured as a player. You still forget how young he is because he's been here for three years now. Just learning himself.

He loves those moments. And he knows how talented he is and what he can do on a baseball field. He can do anything.

So when he comes up in that situation, just with everything that's going on in that inning, you just feel good about it, even though you know what's going on, you know who he's facing, but you still feel good about it.

You'd feel good about it with anybody on our team because that's been the character of our team all year, is just kind of finding a way. And whoever the situation finds, kind of just finding a way to figure out how to get it done.

Q. Christian, you've been an MVP before. You know what it takes to be a player at that level. When you watch Jackson consistently find the moment and excel in them, do you feel like he is transforming into that type of player?

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah. I mean, I think he's been that type of player. The talent is undeniable when you watch him play. There's nothing he can't do on the baseball field.

So he's just getting -- the more experience he gets, the more situations he's in, the more he kind of learns the league and just racks up the at-bats, he's just going to continue to get better. And that's kind of scary because he's pretty good right now.

But it's been really fun to play with him and watch his career progress. And it's young still, but he's already had a ton of big moments.

Q. You draw walks in that huge situation and it's easy to just say walk. But how hard is it to not swing in those situations when you want to be a hero and you're facing a guy like Miller? Because you guys are so good at walks this year. That's a skill. How hard is it to maintain that skill in that moment and not get out of your game and be a hero?

SAL FRELICK: Yeah, I mean, it's tough. Especially when he stole to go to second, and you have a shot here to drive in the run. But it's stuff we talk about, stuff Murph talks about -- just taking what the pitcher gives you.

This isn't necessarily a sport where you just put on a cape and go out and dominate or go hit someone or check someone. It's not really how it works. So you just have to give whatever the game gives you and just be ready to execute.

So I think in those situations with Christian on second, no one got a pitch to hit, so nobody swung. And it sounds simple. It's obviously not as easy. But it's really stuff we talk about.

And guys know that, okay, if the ball's in the zone here, I'm ready for it, I'm going to swing. But if not, I'm not going to try to do something out of control here. I'll just pass it back to the next guy, let him do it, let him be the hero. That's just kind of been the mindset and stuff that's talked about in our clubhouse.

CHRISTIAN YELICH: Yeah, like Sal said, we talk about it a lot. Murph talks about it a lot. Just seeing what the game kind of deals you and go from there. You can't force a hit in that situation. You can't force being the hero or anything like that.

It's just pass it on to the next guy, and whatever the game gives you, it gives you. And do your job in that moment and that pitch. And live to see the next one and the next one and the next one.

And eventually somebody's going to find themselves in a situation to do something or get the pitch to hit and, you know, that's just how baseball works.

Like Sal said, it's easy to say it. It's a lot harder to do it and not chase, especially when a guy's throwing 102 with a 90-mile-an-hour curveball. But you've just got to be focused in that moment in those at-bats and just stay really pitch to pitch and really just take what the game gives you.