Josh Hader surrenders go-ahead walk as Brewers pull to within one game of Padres for last playoff spot

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Former Brewers reliever Josh Hader struggled again late Thursday, incurring the boos of Padres fans as the Washington Nationals defeated San Diego, 3-1, and Milwaukee moved to within a game of the Padres for the final playoff spot in the National League.

Hader entered the ninth inning of a 1-1 game with two runners on after Washington was finally able to chase starter Yu Darvish. Luke Voit fouled off a pair of 2-2 pitches against Hader before getting struck by the next pitch to load the bases, and Hader then walked César Hernández on four close pitches to force in the go-ahead run.

Keibert Ruiz followed with a sacrifice fly for the final run.

Hader has appeared only four times since the much-discussed trade that sent him to San Diego in exchange for Taylor Rogers, Danilson Lamet and minor-leaguers Esteury Ruiz and Robert Gasser, and it's his second straight rough outing after he allowed three runs with a hit and three walks to blow a save Aug. 9 in an eventual Padres victory.

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Josh Hader looks on after the last out of the top of the ninth inning was recorded against the Washington Nationals at Petco Park on Aug. 18, 2022.
San Diego Padres relief pitcher Josh Hader looks on after the last out of the top of the ninth inning was recorded against the Washington Nationals at Petco Park on Aug. 18, 2022.

It's already one of the biggest subplots of the Brewers season after the team saw its three-game lead in the division disappear shortly after the trade, with Lamet abruptly designated for assignment and Rogers struggling in his early appearances with the Brewers.

It's only going to intensify now that Milwaukee is within one game of San Diego for the third and final wild-card spot in the NL, entering Friday.

The Padres, who made a splashy trade for Juan Soto at the deadline in addition to the Hader acquisition, fell to 8-9 since trading for Hader and 66-55 overall.

The Brewers (63-54) headed into the weekend three games behind St. Louis (66-51) for the NL Central lead and two games behind Philadelphia (65-52), holders of the second wild-card spot.

More: Milwaukee Brewers trade closer Josh Hader to San Diego for four players

More: The Josh Hader trade, broken down from every angle by Mark Attanasio and David Stearns

Remember, there's no Game 163, and Brewers already lost tiebreaker with Padres and Phillies

As a reminder, Milwaukee will need to finish a full game ahead of the Padres or Phillies to reach the playoffs; the new playoff format for 2022 means no more tiebreaker games. The Brewers lost the season series to both teams.

Brewers fans might find themselves looking back at the squad's eight-game losing streak in early June, which puts Milwaukee behind the eight-ball in tiebreakers. Milwaukee had a 3-1 season-series lead on San Diego and lost the next three, all at American Family Field, to fall to 3-4 overall and lose out on the key tiebreaker. Rogers, still with San Diego then, blew a save June 2 when Milwaukee rallied for four runs in the ninth to prevail but then got the save to close the series in an extra-innings win for San Diego.

Philadelphia then came to Milwaukee and swept a three-game series to take the season-series tiebreaker, 4-2.

After losing two of three to St. Louis last weekend, the Brewers now trail in that season series, as well (6-7) with four games to play (two in both locations) and needing to win three of four to secure that tiebreaker edge.

Rogers, whose six outings with the Brewers include allowing four runs Aug. 14 in a crucial 6-3 loss to the Cardinals, nonetheless retired all six men he faced in the recently completed four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, throwing a total of 20 pitches and setting up close victories both nights.

Lamet, who never threw a pitch for the Brewers, threw five scoreless innings after he was claimed off waivers by Colorado. However, he then scuffled Aug. 16 against — who else? — the Cardinals. St. Louis loaded the bases against Lamet with a hit and two walks, then won 5-4 in walk-off fashion when Lamet hit Tyler O'Neill with a pitch.

Padres and Phillies have tougher schedule going forward

Including the four games against each other, the Brewers and Cardinals each have 13 games remaining against teams with above-.500 records. Both still must play three in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, and the Cardinals have three remaining games at San Diego.

The Padres have 19 games remaining against above-.500 teams, including nine against the Dodgers. The Phillies have 16 remaining, starting with a four-game series against the Mets that begins Friday.

From another perspective, the Brewers have 19 games remaining against the five worst teams in the league (Chicago Cubs, Colorado, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Washington), while St. Louis has 29 of those left, including six against the Pirates to close the year.

Philadelphia has 17 games remaining against those bottos. San Diego has only six, plus another three against one of the worst American League teams, the Royals.

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Josh Hader walks in go-ahead run as Padres lose and Brewers get closer