NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 6, 2026

Pat Murphy

Petco Park

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Padres - 4, Brewers - 3

Q. What did you expect out of Dustin tonight, and how was his performance compared to -- how would you assess his performance?

PAT MURPHY: I thought he did a nice job, gave us three innings, kept us in the game. I wish he held runners a little better there, but those two pretty fast guys.

Other than that, the leadoff walk in the fourth inning when we got him out of there ended up not hurting us, but free bases were the name of the game tonight. Free bases and Jackson Merrill catching those balls in the gap, those are two leadoff doubles for sure. Usually when you get a leadoff double, there's a probability of scoring.

But too many free bases, wild pitch, error, some walks, stolen bases. Then the hard contacts we did have, they caught a lot of the time. So credit to them. Credit to them.

Q. That error, Cooper and Bowers in the sixth, obviously looming large, kind of an odd play with the bat.

PAT MURPHY: What was that?

Q. The error in the sixth with Cooper and Jake. What did you see with the bat flying and Jake not keeping --

PAT MURPHY: What was the error on?

Q. It was on Cooper. Is that a play Jake needs to make?

PAT MURPHY: I'd have to look at it to be honest with you. You make these assumptions before you really go and look at it and know the situation. If the ball bounced, it makes it a tougher play.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Free bases, you can't give them up, and then the kid comes around to score.

Q. You guys obviously created a lot of pressure in traffic innings like you want. Just offensively, what did you like about the approach, but also when you had those opportunities, the at-bats that you got?

PAT MURPHY: Like I said, we hit four or five balls over a hundred that were caught, but we also punched out in big situations. We had bases loaded. We had other big situations that we didn't come through.

So that's part of baseball. When you're facing a good team with a good pitching staff, that's part of it.

We didn't get the big hit at the big time, but do you fault Yelly for hitting one 107 there and Bogaerts making a great play? They got a great team, and they played great defense tonight. They really did.

Q. When did you kind of become aware like Morejon's not coming in, there's something wrong with Morejon?

PAT MURPHY: I didn't know that. We were obviously expecting him to come in, but we've seen him one time. We respect him. He's really, really good. But the kid that came in the game, that guy, he's special. He's special.

Q. You're pretty familiar with Jackson, know him. What did you think of those -- I know you've already addressed them, but the nature of those plays.

PAT MURPHY: It changes the game. You lead off the game, second or third pitch of the game gets hit in the gap. What was that ball hit at, one-oh-something for sure, right? That's a long yardage catch. That's a long yardage catch. And that kind of stands you up a bit. Instead of a man on second, nobody, you got a different situation.

He's a terrific player, swings the bat terrific. He's a really good player. Really good player. The fact that I know him has nothing to do with it. Yeah, wow, he made two great ones. You made the other one going the other way. Who was that against? Against Sal.

Q. Where do you go with your pitching now tomorrow? Obviously if it goes beyond that, you have Mis in Game 5?

PAT MURPHY: Yeah, we've got to read and react. This is playoff baseball, you know what I mean? We've just got to kind of regroup here and see where everybody's at. The game ended 11 minutes ago, so I'm not prepared to -- I mean, we know that we've used some guys. Uribe's third outing, Hall's second, Romero's second, Senzatela's second.

We've got some used-up guys, but we'll have some available arms tomorrow for sure. We'll assess it tonight before we leave and come up with a plan for tomorrow. We'll worry about any other games after that if they're necessary.

Q. You're talking about maybe bullpen game tomorrow, or do you have a choice of starters?

PAT MURPHY: You can look at our roster and see who we've started in these situations. We've started -- Gasser's made starts for us. Chad Patrick's made starts for us. But we've -- Drohan's made starts for us. After this is over, we're going to sit down. Staff is going to be waiting for me, and we'll sit down, and we'll talk about it.

Q. There was a spot in the sixth there where you could have pinch-hit for Joey and then you did pinch-hit for him with a righty in the next at-bat. Could you go through the thinking of not doing it in the sixth and saving it for the eighth.

PAT MURPHY: He had a great at-bat when I didn't pinch hit for him. He hit the ball down the right field line. The guy doesn't throw a sweeper. Joey is weaker against sweeper guys. It was a pretty easy decision. Put together a great at-bat.

When Hamilton pinch-hit in the ninth -- was it the ninth?

Q. Eighth.

PAT MURPHY: Eighth. It's against a guy that does throw that sweeper and breaking ball and two-seamer that gives Joey the problem. He had a great at-bat against Bradgley. It was a great at-bat.

Q. This is 12 straight playoff losses for you guys. You've been here for all of them. Does it start to wear on you at any point?

PAT MURPHY: I really enjoy them. I enjoy the road losses. They feel good. Does it wear on me? (Laughter). That's a great point to bring up.

It's tough to win on the road in playoff situations obviously. We've done a pretty good job at home, I'd say, but you're right. It's never fun. We lost to the Nationals, right? You're going back to the Nationals. They won the World Series.

Q. Dodgers.

PAT MURPHY: Dodgers did pretty good that year too. They won the World Series, right? They went to the World Series, right? Who else did we lose to, the Braves? They won it. Those are some pretty good teams. I wouldn't beat up the old Brewers if you don't mind. I know you're looking to. That's fun.