Padres best plan to save their season might sound crazy: Do absolutely nothing

As the San Diego Padres head home to the friendly confines of Petco Park for Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers it would behoove them to take a page out of Douglas Adams’ sci-fi comedy series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”“Don’t panic.”That’s the phrase famously written on the cover of Adams’ fictional guide and it needs to become the mantra of this Padres team if they want to make history and get back into this series.The Padres do not need to reinvent themselves.They don’t need a closed-door meeting, a fiery speech from Craig Stammen or some dramatic lineup shakeup designed to jolt a season suddenly dangling over the edge.They need to do something much harder when panic is pounding on the door.Nothing.

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Change nothing.In fact, keep everything as normal as you possibly can.The Padres return to Petco Park trailing the Brewers 2-0 in the NLDS after two losses that felt less like baseball games and more like elaborate ways for the universe to torture San Diego.In Game 1, the Padres led 2-0 before Milwaukee rallied.

Then, with San Diego down to its final two outs, Ty France seemingly launched a go-ahead two-run homer off Trevor Megill — only for the baseball to strike a cable hanging from the roof at American Family Field and fall back into play for an out.The roof was not on fire.Twenty-four hours later, San Diego somehow found an even crueler way to lose.The Padres carried a 3-2 lead into the ninth with Mason Miller, baseball’s most terrifying closer, on the mound.Miller had been pumping triple-digit fastballs past Milwaukee hitters all weekend and touched 104 mph in the bottom of the ninth.But after Miller issued three walks, the Brewers loaded...