Brerwers Game 3 Starter Has Dominated Padres This Season

Benny Sieu/Imagn Images

Brerwers Game 3 Starter Has Dominated Padres This Season

Originally posted on Baseball Now | By Aaliyan Mohammed | Last updated Oct 5, 2026 7:04 PM ET

The Milwaukee Brewers defended their home field, getting some help from their roof, in the first two games of the National League Division Series, and are looking to close out the series in Game 3 behind Dustin May.

May has been inconsistent this year, but when he's going well, he has looked dominant. He has put together three really good starts for the Brewers and a few not-so-great, shorter outings. However, his best start as a Brewer actually came against the Padres at Petco Park.

On Aug. 12, May went seven innings, allowing just one run, against the Padres. He had six strikeouts in that game, but the Brewers bullpen uncharacteristically gave up some runs after he exited. The Brewers also did not have all of their stars playing due to injuries in that game. In Game 3, May will have his full defense behind him, and a bullpen that is locked in and rested.

In total, May has made three starts against the Padres this year, two of them coming for the St. Louis Cardinals. On May 9, he went six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out seven batters. On June 15, he threw a complete-game shutout, giving up just one hit and striking out nine. In total, he has pitched 22 innings against the Padres, posting a 1.23 ERA and recording 22 strikeouts.

May has run into some tough luck as of late, but the Brewers believe in his stuff and think he can rise to the occasion. He has an 8.59 ERA in his last three outings, and there were real questions as to whether the Brewers would give him the ball in Game 3.

“We brought him in to do that,” manager Pat Murphy said when asked about the decision to start May, per MLB.com.

May also has something that the rest of the Brewers starters severely lack: experience. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson started Games 1 and 2 for the Brewers, and it was each of their first postseason starts. For Henderson, it was his first postseason outing. Both were rocky out of the gates, but settled in. May has pitched in nine postseason games, including two World Series games. He has a 3.86 postseason ERA and will likely have a short leash.

The Brewers have yet to use Shane Drohan, Kyle Harrison or Chad Patrick in this series, and all of them are multi-inning arms for Murphy. Knowing he has them available, May will likely only go until the first real sign of trouble, but this year, against the Padres, trouble has been rare for him.

In an ideal world, May dominates the Padres long enough for the Brewers to hand the ball to Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill.

This article first appeared on Baseball Now and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: