​Just a few more inches and Manny Machado hits a game-tying home run against the Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, he was out and the Padres season ended an inning later.. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reservedThey say baseball is a game of inches. That old cliché has raised its head over and over again during this year’s division series. Multiple times an inch or two either way could have made the difference in a game, and ultimately, the series. While games are made up of hundreds of tiny moments, these ones stand out:Ty FranceWe begin with Game 1 of the series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres. The Brewers led 3-2 with one out in the ninth inning. Dustin Harris singled, and Ty France came to the plate representing the lead run. On a 1-0 fastball from Trevor Megill, France hit a long and very high fly ball to left field. The ball left his bat at 105.3-mph and went up at a launch angle of 49 degrees. It went 325 feet when it smacked into a cable attached to the roof of American Family Field (playing with the roof closed). The ball ricocheted down to left fielder Jackson Chourio who caught the ball to record the second out of the inning.The ground rules at “AmFam” provide that a ball that hits any part of the roof and comes down in fair territory is a live ball. If it had hit in foul territory, it would have been a foul ball. Had Chourio not had the presence of mind to make a play on the ball, it could have fallen into left field for a hit. But, alas, something that a Brewers coach predicted prior to the game happened and potentially cost the Padres a lead-changing home run*.Eno Sarris and Spencer Nussbaum of The Athletic, using data from Statcast, determined that in all likelihood, France’s ball would not have left the yard.Jackson ChourioLet’s stay in Milwaukee for Game 2 of that series. San Diego led 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth. Heralded closer Mason Miller was on to finish the game and even the series. Unfortunately, he walked three batters to load the bases with two outs. Chourio came to the plate and got behind 1-2. He fouled off a 103.5-mph fastball, and then didn’t swing at an 89-mph slider. On 2-2, Miller uncorked one 101.3-mph and Chourio smashed it up the middle at 109.5-mph. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth, who had already made some outstanding defensive plays in the “Crone Zone,” dived to his right and missed snagging the liner by mere inches. The ball went into center field, two runs scored, and the Brewers walked off the field with a 2-0 series lead.Spencer Jones: Part ISpencer Jones hit the B Ring and the fall fell in fair territory where it was caught for an out.MLB.comHow rare is for a ball to be hit off the roof of a domed stadium? Both very and not at all. Just two days after France’s ball struck a cable in Milwaukee, Yankees slugger Spencer Jones lofted one off a support ring at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay.With the Rays leading the series an