Padres stars Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth picked the worst time for costly NLDS mistakes

Mason Miller will wear the loss. That comes with walking three batters in the ninth inning and surrendering Jackson Chourio’s two-run, walk-off single with the Padres one strike away from escaping Milwaukee.

But if we dump this entire disaster at Miller’s feet, we’re letting two of San Diego’s most experienced players off far too easily.

The Padres carried a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. They had already taken control of a postseason road game and put themselves within six outs of tying the NLDS. Miller was eventually asked to protect that lead for two innings.

One, it should’ve been a larger lead. Two, it at least should’ve remained a two-run lead.

Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth made sure neither happened.

Padres veterans stripped away Mason Miller’s margin for error

Machado’s mistake came first. Ty France delivered an RBI single in the top of the seventh, extending San Diego’s lead to 3-1. It should have been a clean, productive moment in an inning the Padres could have kept alive.

Instead, Machado tried to advance from first to third and was thrown out by Sal Frelick. Worse, Machado appeared to slow as he approached the bag, seemingly unaware that the throw was arriving behind him.

Immediate reactions probably would have called it lazy. We can’t know what Machado was thinking. We can assume he thought the play was going home. But what can we call it? Careless, unnecessary and completely unacceptable in an NLDS game.

There was no reason to give Milwaukee a free out there. The Padres had finally created some breathing room, France had delivered the hit they needed, and the pressure was sitting squarely on the Brewers. Machado handed them an escape route.

One half-inning later, Cronenworth made the situation worse.

With Garrett Mitchell at third, David Hamilton hit a ground ball to second. Cronenworth fielded it and made a poor throw, allowing Mitchell to score and Hamilton to advance to second. Just like that, San Diego’s 3-1 lead became 3-2 without Milwaukee needing a hit.

Machado’s baserunning blunder was not an official error, but it cost the Padres an out and perhaps another run. Cronenworth’s throw was an error, and it directly handed Milwaukee a run.

These weren’t difficult plays forced by overwhelming talent. They were failures of execution by two veterans who are supposed to be steady in these moments. And that is why the ninth inning can’t be discussed in isolation.

Miller still has to do his job. A closer with his stuff cannot issue three walks while protecting a one-run lead, no matter how the game reached that point. But San Diego spent the seventh inning turning a potential cushion into the thinnest margin possible.

Then it asked Miller to make that margin hold for six outs. He almost pulled it off. He retired Milwaukee in order in the eighth and pushed the Brewers down to their final strike in the ninth. When Chourio’s single slipped past Cronenworth, the collapse was complete.

The final sequence belonged to Miller. The conditions that made it fatal did not. The Padres are now down 2-0 and returning to Petco Park with no room left for another careless turn, rushed throw or inning handed to Milwaukee. Their season has reached a simple stage. They need to execute or go home.

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