The San Diego Padres staved off elimination and now have their sights set on forcing a decisive Game 5.

The third straight one-run margin in the National League Division Series finally went San Diego's way, but Game 4 rates as another must-win contest for the Padres when they collide with the visiting Milwaukee Brewers again on Wednesday night.

"We had our backs against the wall, we had nothing to lose but going out there and playing our baseball," San Diego third baseman Manny Machado said after Tuesday's 4-3 home win.

A Game 5, if necessary, would be Friday night in Milwaukee.

The Padres received a major boost before Game 4 with the activation of All-Star closer Mason Miller, who was placed on the paternity list Tuesday when his wife went into labor. Miller, who missed Game 3, replaced left-hander Wandy Peralta on the NLDS roster.

As for left-handed setup man Adrian Morejon, who did not appear in Game 3 due to fatigue in his throwing shoulder, the Padres will evaluate his status before Game 4.

With Miller and Morejon unavailable, Game 2 starter Michael King threw 40 pitches and worked two scoreless innings to close out Game 3, two days after throwing 72 pitches.

King's final pitch came with two on and one out in the ninth. Brewers star Christian Yelich hit a bullet that San Diego shortstop Xander Bogaerts turned into a game-ending double play.

The setback was the 12th straight road playoff loss for the Brewers, who were unable to rally in the ninth inning on Tuesday after Jackson Chourio delivered a two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth in Milwaukee on Sunday.

The Brewers left 11 men on base and consistently came up empty in the clutch.

"We hit four or five balls over 100 that were caught, but we also punched out in big situations," Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. "We had bases loaded. We had other big situations that we didn't come through.

"So that's part of baseball. When you're facing a good team with a good pitching staff, that's part of it."

The victory certainly was a relief to Padres manager Craig Stammen.

"It feels like we played three straight games against the Brewers like that," Stammen said. "We finally were able to come out on the right end of things in this one."

The Padres have just two extra-base hits in the series and one of them was Jake Cronenworth's homer to right to lead off the fifth. San Diego never trailed again.

"They've been great games," Cronenworth said of the series. "I think the biggest thing is runs are coming at a premium, especially the way our bullpen is pitching and their bullpen is pitching. You score early, but then you've got to kind of add some insurance."

Milwaukee's William Contreras reached base four times on three hits and a walk in Game 3. He also hit his second homer of the series.

Yelich had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh. That ended a stretch of 19 straight postseason games without an RBI for Yelich, who had last delivered one in Game 7 of the 2018 NL Championship against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As for Milwaukee's long postseason road skid, Yelich said, "This team has one person playing from 2018. So that really has no effect on this group."

The Padres will turn to right-hander Walker Buehler, who was on the paternity list for the first two games of the series, in Game 4.

Buehler is used to big games. He made 18 postseason starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2018-24. He also recorded the save in the decisive Game 5 as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series. He is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA in the playoffs.

Buehler is 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA in four career starts against Milwaukee.

Murphy decided Wednesday to have left-hander Robert Gasser take the ball for Game 4. Gasser made 20 regular-season starts and pitched once in relief this season while going 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA.

He was hot over his last four starts of the season, going 1-0 with a 1.19 ERA and giving up just 10 hits over 22 2/3 innings.

Gasser was in the Padres' system before being traded to the Brewers in August 2022 as part of the package in which left-handed reliever Josh Hader went to San Diego. Gasser has never faced his former team.

He made two relief appearances in the 2025 postseason for Milwaukee and gave up two runs and six hits over 2 2/3 innings.

"We've got some used-up guys, but we'll have some available arms (Wednesday) for sure," Murphy said of his pitching staff.