Baseball's best team meets its hottest: a first-ever October meeting

The Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres have been in the majors together since 1969. In all that time they have never once met in the postseason. That changes Saturday night, and the matchup is as good as the NLDS gets: the team with the best record in baseball against the hottest team on the planet. The Brewers went 103-59 — a franchise record, the best record in the majors for the second straight year, and the first 100-win season in club history. The Padres went 91-71 and then ripped off 17 wins in their final 20 regular-season games, tied Milwaukee for the best record in September (18-6), posted the best OPS in baseball over the season's final month, and swept the Cubs 2-0 in the Wild Card round. Someone's October ends this week.

Milwaukee did it the Milwaukee way. Manager Pat Murphy's club became the first team in baseball history to win 100 games without a winning streak longer than five. "We didn't have the big streaks this year," Murphy said. "I think that speaks even more to the group in there, how much they responded, how much they bounced back." It is consistency as an art form: win the series, sweep the bad teams, never lose three in a row, wake up with 103.

And the centerpiece of it all takes the ball Saturday night. Jacob Misiorowski, 24 years old, routinely touching 100 mph with his fastball, finished 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA — the lowest in the majors — 252 strikeouts in 174 2/3 innings, a 0.80 WHIP, and a .157 opponent batting average, the lowest by any pitcher with at least 100 innings since 1990. He is the heavy favorite for the NL Cy Young Award, and he gets the Padres' scorching lineup in Game 1 of the NLDS. Misiorowski has been here before: he went 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three postseason appearances as a rookie last season. He also faced these Padres back on May 13 — seven scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts, no decision when San Diego rallied with three in the ninth for a 3-1 win. He knows what they're about.

Behind him goes rookie Logan Henderson, who was quietly brilliant all year: a 2.47 ERA in 18 starts. Murphy called the Game 2 assignment "subject to change," but against San Diego's righty-heavy top of the order — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado both hit from the right side — Henderson is the expected choice. The Brewers' third-ranked bullpen (3.40 ERA) waits beyond that. Milwaukee won't slug its way to wins; this lineup strings hits together and sustains rallies. It worked all season — the Brewers actually led the league in runs scored in September despite a September OPS (.784) that lagged behind San Diego's (.815).

The Padres: 20 games of thunder

What San Diego is doing right now is genuinely rare. The Padres took care of business in the Wild Card round with a sweep of the Cubs — an 8-0 Game 1 blowout at Petco Park powered by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, then a 4-1 Game 2 in which Tatis and Machado went 1-for-8 combined but Gavin Sheets and the bullpen finished the job. They outscored Chicago 12-1 across the two games. The regular-season series belongs to them, too: San Diego went 4-2 against Milwaukee, including a three-game sweep at Petco Park in August — though they never had to face Misiorowski in that series.

Manager Craig Stammen isn't intimidated by the seed line. "It's going to be a tough series," he said after sweeping the Wild Card. "The regular season is out the window. As we saw, the Cubs kicked our butt in the regular season, and we were able to handle them for two games. Anything can happen in a short series. They're going to be a tough opponent. Every game that we played with them was really close in the regular season. I anticipate something similar to that in this coming week."

Even Murphy is respectful of what's coming into his building. "They're playing so well and they're super talented — a super talented, confident team right now with, we all know, the best bullpen in baseball, with some real megastars in the lineup," the Brewers skipper said. "And they're rolling. But that's what you're going to face at this time of year."

The Padres will start Game 1 with a surprise: 35-year-old lefty Robbie Ray instead of Walker Buehler. Ray joined San Diego at the trade deadline and made nine starts; his October credentials are thin (a 7.43 ERA in 13 1/3 career postseason innings), and he wasn't dominant down the stretch. But he's here for a reason — and he's thrilled about it. "Super thrilled for the opportunity and the trust that this team has put into me, that Craig has put into me," Ray said Friday. "Obviously, a really good ballclub. I have to stick to my game plan and kind of be willing to adapt as well. For me, it's just relying on my defense and just pitching my best game."

Storylines to watch

Misiorowski versus the megastars. The headline duel of the entire Division Series round. Tatis, Machado, and Jackson Merrill are bigger home-run threats than anyone in Milwaukee's lineup, and October games so often hinge on a single swing. Misiorowski fanned 10 Padres in seven scoreless frames in May — and took a no-decision because of it. Nothing in this series matters more than whether San Diego's stars can touch him twice.

The battle of the bullpens. Both managers believe they have the best relief corps in the game. In a short series with the league's two hottest offenses, the middle innings are where this gets decided.

Contact versus power. Milwaukee's offense outperformed its OPS all season — it can't be a fluke after 103 wins, but October has a way of humbling small-ball clubs. San Diego's stars can end a rally, or a series, with one swing.

The August sweep. San Diego swept the Brewers at Petco in August without facing Misiorowski. Saturday night is the rematch with the flamethrower included. The Padres' confidence from that sweep meets the reality of the game's nastiest arm.

The series ahead

Game 1 is Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) at American Family Field, airing on FS1 (also FOX Deportes and FOX One). Game 2 follows Sunday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. ET. The series shifts to Petco Park for Game 3 on Tuesday, Oct. 6, with Game 4 (if necessary) on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and a winner-take-all Game 5 (if necessary) back in Milwaukee on Friday, Oct. 9. The winner advances to the NLCS. Baseball's best team against its hottest team — under the lights in Milwaukee, this one deserves the nightcap slot.