Pat Murphy dropping a “G– Dammit” live during an in-game interview last night is PEAK Murph Dog.

First things first: Credit to the Padres home broadcast for interviewing the opposing team’s manager. Most local broadcasts focus solely on the team they’re covering, but the Padres crew did a good job of trying to incorporate the Brewers a little bit last night, including this interview. Fair(ish) and balanced, kudos to them!

Second things second: Murph is such a beaut. His reaction to Jackson Merrill chasing down ANOTHER ball that looked like a double to the gap was the exact reaction all Brewer fans had watching the game. Just an old baseball warhorse with pancakes in his pocket doing a stream of consciousness interview on live TV. You love to see it!

Third things third: That sucked. But look, this team wasn’t going to do the lambada to the World Series. A sweep would have been awesome for a variety of reasons, not the least of which would have been avoiding an even later start time tonight. But this is playoff baseball, baby! It will give you some of the greatest moments one night, and rip your guts out 48 hours later. The Brewers had their chances and left 11 men on base. Some of that was not coming up clutch in the moment (Turang, Bauers, Mitchell), some of that was ELITE Padres defense. The Brewers had 5 hits last night that were 100+ mph off of the bat and ended up as outs. Baseball can be cruel. But if they have the same approach and make the same kind of contact tonight, I think it will result in more positive outcomes.

Now I’ll be very curious to see not only the lineup tonight (bench time for Bauers and Mitchell?), but also how they approach the pitching staff. Miz on short rest and try to end it, or save Miz for a potentially do-or-die Game 5 at home. If you use him tonight, you can still use Henderson on Friday, which I don’t hate. We already know the Padres are rolling out Walker Buehler. Fun fact, the last time the Brewers won a road playoff game was Game 3 of the NLCS in Los Angeles. The pitcher that day? Walker Buehler. This team is WAY past due to win a road playoff game (0 for their last 12).

So let’s buckle up! And remember: This is a 103 win team and the #1 seed in the playoffs. I get it, playoff losses are excruciating, and our fan base is a little jaded by what has happened in October’s of the past. But don’t let those failures taint this team. If they stick to what they’ve been doing the whole season, they’re going to be just fine. Right? Right. (right?)

PS: Honestly, this series has been INREDIBLE baseball playoff theater. Tight games, swings in momentum, crazed fan bases, if you don’t have a rooting interest, this has been the best playoff series by a mile.

Double PS: Take: The team with the higher seed should not only get home field advantage, they should get time zone advantage. They should have to play these games at 3pm Pacific time, 6pm Central time. Don’t like it? Don’t be the lower seed.