Brewers Dominate
Milwaukee beats Los Angeles 7-4, taking a 2-0 NLCS lead in a series that again pits the two rivals.
Milwaukee beat Los Angeles 7-4 on Monday night, taking a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.
William Contreras tied it with a 436-foot homer in the fifth. In the sixth, he singled home the go-ahead run, the Guardian reported. Four Brewers relievers shut the door, retiring the last 15 Dodgers batters in order, according to the Guardian.
For Milwaukee, this has been years coming. The Brewers have ranked among baseball's best teams for close to a decade, ESPN reported, yet they fell short in the 2018 NLCS and were swept by the Dodgers in last year's series. Manager Pat Murphy took over in November 2023 and has pushed one line ever since. Win tonight. A sign bearing those words hangs over the tunnel to Milwaukee's dugout, ESPN reported. "Quite frankly, I think we're just tired of losing in the playoffs," right-hander Brandon Woodruff said, according to ESPN.
Los Angeles managed just three hits. The Dodgers went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position, falling to 2 for 26 in such spots this postseason, the Guardian reported. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto entered the playoffs 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason appearances. He lasted just 2.2 innings, his shortest postseason outing, per the Guardian. "I don't know the exact reason yet," Yamamoto said after the game. "I need to check the videos and then I can reflect on what happened today."
The lead changed hands three times through five innings before Milwaukee's bullpen took over. Brice Turang and Jake Bauers tacked on RBI singles in the eighth, the Guardian reported.
Game 3 is Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to the Guardian. The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first since 1982, when they reached the World Series as an American League club. Los Angeles, for its part, is trying to become the first National League team to win three straight titles.
A 2-0 deficit is not unfamiliar territory for Los Angeles. In 2020, the Dodgers trailed Atlanta 2-0 in the NLCS, won that series in seven games and went on to take the World Series, the Guardian reported.