SAN DIEGO -- The Brewers¡¯ most dramatic victory this season had brilliant pitching from Wade Miley, suddenly so important to a starting rotation missing one of its co-aces.?

It had no-room-for-error relief from Peter Strzelecki and Devin Williams, both in their first full seasons with elevated bullpen roles. It had old-school run manufacturing from rookie Garrett Mitchell. And there was something new, too, as everyone was reminded of how MLB¡¯s new rules can impact a tight ballgame.?

When Williams¡¯ 33rd pitch -- a full count pitch with two outs and the bases loaded -- froze old teammate-turned-foe Trent Grisham for a 1-0 Brewers win over the Padres, Milwaukee had taken three of four games in a series on the road against one of the best teams in the National League.?

¡°Huge, huge, huge,¡± said Miley. ¡°I think people are starting to realize we¡¯re a really good team, too.¡±?

Here are three moments that defined the 2023 Brewers¡¯ defining win:

1. Mitchell bunts

After a dream Opening Week, the reality of MLB has set in for Brewers rookies Mitchell, Brice Turang and Joey Wiemer on this long road trip. The Brewers¡¯ talented trio went into Sunday hitting a collective .170 on the trip with 21 strikeouts in 53 at-bats.?

So, after Padres starter Yu Darvish struck out Christian Yelich, Willy Adames and Rowdy Tellez on 10 pitches in the top of the first and then sawed William Contreras¡¯ bat in half at the handle for a groundout to open the second, Mitchell dug into the batter¡¯s box and had an idea. He was 4-for-22 with 12 strikeouts over his last six games including 0-for-8 in this series.?

Why not bunt??

¡°I saw [third baseman Manny] Machado was not super far back, but not super in,¡± Mitchell said. ¡°Right before Darvish got set, I made the decision I was going to put the ball down and see what happens.¡±?

Mitchell is a problem for pitchers when he¡¯s on base. He took second on the afternoon¡¯s pivotal moment, when Darvish, on his second throw over to check Mitchell at first base, was charged by home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi with a third disengagement, and thus, a balk. It marked only the second time that particular rule has been enforced across MLB this season.?

"It was right when I got on first, he had stepped on the rubber and then stepped off ... to, like, restart," Mitchell said. "So QB [first base coach Quintin Berry] and I had checked and asked, 'Is that one disengagement?' They said yes. I think, obviously, there was not a clear indication on [the Padres¡¯] side whether that had counted or not. It's an interesting play, to say the least."

It was a game-changing play. Mitchell stole third base without a throw, then scored on Brian Anderson¡¯s sacrifice fly to left field.?

¡°To me,¡± Miley said, ¡°that¡¯s cool, old-school baseball. ¡­ That¡¯s beautiful. It was my job to go out and try to keep it there.¡±

2. Miley¡¯s pinpoint control

If there¡¯s one at-bat to exemplify how Miley, 36, commanded the baseball, it was his third meeting with Machado leading off the sixth inning.?

Miley threw a changeup to the low and away spot he wanted and didn¡¯t get the call, pushing Machado¡¯s count to 3-1. The last thing Miley wanted to do was put the leadoff hitter aboard in a one-run game with Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz and Jake Cronenworth coming up for their third looks at the veteran left-hander, but Miley stubbornly kept picking on the same spot.?

His next pitch was a cutter, and he got a called strike to Machado¡¯s dismay. The next pitch was another changeup in precisely the same spot, and Machado went down with a defensive swing.

¡°Right there, I¡¯m not going to let him beat me,¡± Miley said. ¡°I got super nibbly.¡±?

Miley would pitch through the seventh, allowing four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts -- his highest total in 23 starts as a Brewer in the regular season or postseason. He has a 1.50 ERA through three starts.?

¡°It¡¯s not done with a lot of velocity, but it¡¯s done where the hitter feels like he¡¯s on defense a little bit,¡± Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. ¡°The hitter has to cover a lot of different parts of the strike zone at a lot of different speeds. That¡¯s just pitching. With Wade, it¡¯s a lesson in how to pitch. That¡¯s what he¡¯s doing.¡±

3. Williams¡¯ final pitch

Williams and Grisham go all the way back to the Brewers¡¯ Minor League system, when Grisham was known as Trent Clark.

¡°I¡¯ve played with him, against him,¡± Williams said. ¡°When I pitched here last year, I faced him three straight days, and then at our place, I faced him again. Now, we¡¯re back here and I¡¯m facing him again. We know each other very well.¡±

That means Grisham has as good a feel as any Padre for what Williams is thinking. By then, Williams was feeling the effects of throwing 32 pitches at the sped-up pace required by the pitch timer, which particularly impacts a methodical worker. He walked Soto to lead off the inning, then surrendered a two-out single to Ha-Seong Kim and walked Austin Nola. Williams¡¯ misses were mostly close, but they were misses.

With the winning run in scoring position, Grisham, too, got to a full count. Contreras had already visited the mound. So had Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook. Williams needed every second the pitch timer offered.

¡°I don¡¯t know if you guys noticed, but it was down to one,¡± he said. ¡°I was watching it. I was aware.¡±

A pitcher possessing one of baseball¡¯s best changeups threw a 93.7 mph fastball at the top of the zone.

Grisham watched a game-ending Strike 3.

¡°I don¡¯t want to give away too much because I¡¯m going to see him again,¡± Williams said, ¡°but I had a feeling he was looking for a changeup there.¡±