The San Diego Padres Lost Game 4 of the National League Division Series 3-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers, but Manny Machado almost tied the game in the eighth inning with a two-run home run.
Machado hit a fly ball deep to right-center field, and he stood at home plate to admire it, dropping his bat and blowing a bubble. Meanwhile, Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell was running toward the short wall and made the catch at the wall, while fans tried to catch what would have been a clutch home run. Mitchell's catch at the wall robbed Machado of a moment, and had the game been in Milwaukee, it would have been gone.
The short wall in San Diego gave Mitchell a chance to make a play on the ball. It was the ninth-hardest-hit ball of the game, at 106.7 mph. The ball traveled 406 feet, and according to Statcast, it was a home run in 16 ballparks. However, that does not account for Mitchell making a tremendous play at any of the other venues as well.
The ball had an expected batting average of .960. For Machado, it must have felt like deja vu, as Mitchell's play was nearly identical to Adam Jones' iconic catch to rob Machado of a home run in San Diego in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Jones' catch came in the seventh inning, while Mitchell's came in the eighth. However, both were in nearly the same spot almost a decade apart. In the box score, it goes down as a flyout, but unlike Game 1 of the series, the Padres are probably wishing this game were in Milwaukee.
In Game 1, Ty France's towering fly ball hit the roof in American Family Field and was caught for an out. Had Wednesday's game been at American Family Field, Mitchell would have had to make a leaping catch on a higher wall to try and rob Machado. It would have been so much harder than it was for him at Petco Park.