The San Diego Padres, in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, must have been feeling as secure as one can be in a postseason setting when they sent out Mason Miller, he of the 1.67 ERA and 38 saves in 66 relief appearances (70.0 innings) during the 2026 MLB regular season. Miller is the best closer in baseball today, as he blitzes opposing hitters with his blur of a four-seamer, which averaged 101.3 mph this year.

However, Jackson Chourio was having none of that “Miller is the best closer in baseball” talk. Miller, after walking three guys in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday against just two outs, paid the price for his lack of command when the Brewers left fielder hit a 101.3 mph fastball straight up the middle for a two-run single, which overturned a one-run deficit for Milwaukee and sealed a 4-3 victory and, by extension, a 2-0 lead in the NLDS.

Chourio's heroics against the Padres closer was a rare phenomenon that last occurred almost 40 years ago. According to OptaSTATS on X, the Brewers star became just the second player in MLB history to score a walk-off hit with his team trailing against the pitcher who led his league in saves (since saves became an official stat in 1969), becoming the first to do so since Kirk Gibson accomplished the feat against Dennis Eckersley back in 1988.

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Gibson's home run came in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, and he hit a long ball despite coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter due to injury. The Los Angeles Dodgers ended up winning the Fall Classic, thanks in large part to the momentum they secured with that legendary Gibson homer.

Can the Brewers do the same? The job is far from finished. They still need to win one more game to secure their spot in the NLCS, and they have to win eight more games after that if they were to stand tall as the World Series champion. But no one can deny that everything is coming up for Milwaukee at the moment.