The Milwaukee Brewers drew first blood in their National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, but the 3-2 win at American Family Field on Saturday night will be remembered for a ninth-inning fly ball that never came down where anyone expected.

With the Brewers clinging to a one-run lead, one out and a runner on base, Ty France sent a 1-0 fastball from closer Trevor Megill high and deep toward the left-field corner. The ball struck a cable on the ballpark's closed roof and dropped into the glove of Jackson Chourio on the warning track.

Under American Family Field's ground rules, a ball that hits the roof, a roof truss or a roof cable over fair territory remains in play. The Padres challenged, arguing it should have been ruled dead, but the call stood after replay review. Jackson Merrill lined out one batter later to end the game.

France's drive left the bat at 105.3 mph with a 49-degree launch angle, and it still traveled 325 feet after hitting the cable. France was convinced he had hit a go-ahead two-run homer.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy had a different explanation. He pointed to Bob Uecker, the legendary Brewers broadcaster who died in January 2025 at age 90.

Murphy acknowledged after the game that the ball would be the talk of the night, then offered his own theory on what happened up near the roof.

“Ueck decided to put his hand on it, swat it down,” Murphy told reporters after the game. He also insisted the drive was tailing foul anyway and credited Chourio for staying with a ball that took a strange path.

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Chourio's night went well beyond the catch. His two-run homer off Robbie Ray in the third inning tied the game and gave him five career postseason home runs, a franchise record. William Contreras then broke the tie with a solo shot off Adrian Morejon in the seventh.

The Milwaukee bullpen handled the rest. Antonio Senzatela, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, DL Hall and Megill combined for five scoreless innings after starter Jacob Misiorowski lasted only four.

The Brewers, who led the majors with 103 wins, will try to take a 2-0 series lead in Game 2 on Sunday afternoon.