Update, Oct. 16, 2026: Milwaukee went on to sweep the series 4-0, winning Game 4 on Thursday, Oct. 15, 6-4 at Dodger Stadium, and reached its first World Series since 1982, according to MLB.com. The article below was written after Game 1.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Brice Turang tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth inning, rookie Luis Lara drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the fifth, and a bullpen of four relievers gave up two hits over the final 4 2/3 innings.
The win gives Milwaukee a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Brewers collected six hits to the Dodgers’ seven. Neither team committed an error. According to the official box score, Milwaukee left seven runners on base and Los Angeles left nine. The game ended after the top of the ninth inning, so Milwaukee did not bat.
How the three runs scored
The Dodgers scored first, in the second inning. Shohei Ohtani led off with a walk, and Teoscar Hernandez singled, which moved Ohtani to second. After a strikeout, Andy Pages singled on a ground ball to right field, and Ohtani scored. Kyle Tucker then walked to load the bases with one out, but Enrique Hernandez grounded into an inning-ending double play, so the Dodgers left the bases loaded and scored no more.
Turang tied it leading off the bottom of the fourth. He hit a fly ball to left-center against Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal for a solo home run, a left-handed batter against a left-handed pitcher. MLB.com reported that the ball traveled 384 feet into the home bullpen on a 2-0 sinker on the inner part of the plate. The official game record lists it as Turang’s first home run of this postseason. The Associated Press reported that he went 1 for 15 with six strikeouts in last year’s NLCS.
The go-ahead run came an inning later. Garrett Mitchell walked to open the bottom of the fifth, and Cooper Pratt sacrificed him to second base. Lara, a 21-year-old rookie, then singled up the middle, and Mitchell scored to make it 2-1. Lara swung at a first-pitch changeup, MLB.com reported. Milwaukee loaded the bases with two out after a Jackson Chourio single and a Turang walk, but William Contreras flew out to right field, and Skubal’s night ended there at 81 pitches.
How the pitching played out
Skubal, the Dodgers’ left-handed starter, went five innings and allowed five hits, two earned runs and two walks, with seven strikeouts. MLB.com described him as a two-time Cy Young winner who was traded to the Dodgers this summer. He retired the side in order in the first inning, and through three innings he had six strikeouts and one baserunner on 40 pitches, according to CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports live blogs. In the fourth and fifth innings, by the box score and play-by-play, he allowed four hits and two walks and struck out one. MLB.com framed it as Skubal losing steam the second time through the order, and said it was the first time in his eight postseason starts that he did not pitch into the sixth inning. Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips and Tanner Scott each worked one scoreless inning after him, so the Dodgers bullpen combined for three scoreless innings.
Milwaukee starter Jacob Misiorowski threw 4 1/3 innings and allowed one earned run on five hits, with five strikeouts and three walks over 94 pitches. He threw 35 pitches in the second inning, according to the Associated Press and MLB.com. DL Hall relieved him in the fifth with a runner on first base and got Freddie Freeman to ground into a double play. Hall is credited with the win.
Abner Uribe pitched the sixth, and both hits the Brewers bullpen allowed came against him. Aaron Ashby pitched the seventh and eighth. Trevor Megill pitched the ninth for the save, his third of this postseason. He walked Tucker and pinch-hitter Josue De Paula with two out before Mookie Betts flew out to center field, where Mitchell caught the ball at the warning track, MLB.com reported. The Associated Press reported that the Milwaukee bullpen has allowed one earned run in 23 2/3 innings this postseason.
Runners on base
Los Angeles went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The Associated Press and the Yahoo Sports live blog put the Dodgers at 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position this postseason. Will Smith, Enrique Hernandez and Freeman grounded into the Dodgers’ three double plays, in the first, second and fifth innings, and the Brewers turned all three. The Dodgers turned one of their own, on Vaughn’s grounder in the fourth.
Another threat ended in the sixth, when Ohtani and Max Muncy singled and Pages struck out swinging with two out to strand two runners. The Dodgers had no hit in the fifth, seventh, eighth or ninth innings.
Milwaukee had its own bases-loaded chance in the eighth. Chourio singled off Phillips, and Scott replaced Phillips during Turang’s at-bat, in which Turang sacrificed Chourio to second. Scott intentionally walked Contreras to put runners on first and second, then struck out Bauers and intentionally walked Vaughn to load the bases with two out, and Mitchell grounded out to shortstop, so the Brewers did not score.
The balk call
Yahoo Sports reported that home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso called a balk on Misiorowski with two out in the fourth inning, after he threw to first base. The call wiped out what looked like the third out, MLB.com reported. Teoscar Hernandez moved to second base, and Misiorowski then struck out Tucker swinging. Brewers manager Pat Murphy was upset about the call, according to Yahoo Sports.
What the players and managers said
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers knew coming in that it would be a long series, according to the Associated Press, and MLB.com reported that he also said Milwaukee made plays and pitches when it needed to. Betts said the Dodgers would have to get a hit at some point.
MLB.com reported that Murphy praised the rookies Lara and Pratt, that Turang said he stayed inside the ball, and that Skubal said the 2-0 sinker was in and he would live with the homer. MLB.com also reported that Misiorowski said he did not think he had his best stuff and that defensive support helped him get through it. Lara, speaking through an interpreter, said a World Series would be the dream moment, the Associated Press reported.
How the teams got here
The Brewers finished the regular season 103-59 and beat the San Diego Padres three games to one in the division series, including a 4-3 win in Game 2 on a walk-off single by Chourio. The Dodgers finished 100-62 and beat the Atlanta Braves three games to one. Skubal’s previous start was NLDS Game 1, when he went six innings and allowed two hits and one run with seven strikeouts, the Associated Press reported.
This is a rematch of last year’s NLCS, which the Dodgers swept four games to none. The Associated Press reported that Milwaukee had lost seven straight postseason games to Los Angeles before Sunday. MLB.com reported that the two runs were more than the Brewers scored in any game of last year’s series, and that teams that won Game 1 of a best-of-seven series have gone on to win it 127 of 197 times, or 64 percent.
What comes next
Game 2 is Monday, Oct. 12, at 5 p.m. Eastern at American Family Field, and the series is on Fox and FS1. MLB.com and the Associated Press reported that Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to start for the Dodgers against rookie right-hander Logan Henderson; the Brewers’ own announcement had not been seen as of early Monday. The Associated Press put Yamamoto at 8-1 with a 2.14 earned run average in 11 postseason appearances, and reported that Henderson is 2-0 with a 0.75 earned run average in two starts against Los Angeles this season. MLB.com reported that Yamamoto threw a complete game in last year’s NLCS Game 2, a 5-1 win in Milwaukee, and that in his NLDS Game 3 start he pitched seven innings, allowing one run and striking out 10.
According to the schedule published before the series by NBC Sports, the series then moves to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern and Game 4 on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 9 p.m. Eastern. Game 5, if needed, is Friday, Oct. 16, at 9 p.m. Eastern in Los Angeles. Games 6 and 7, if needed, return to Milwaukee on Sunday, Oct. 18 and Monday, Oct. 19, both at 8 p.m. Eastern.
What is not known
As of early Monday, no reason for Christian Yelich’s absence from the Brewers’ Game 1 lineup had been reported. As of early Monday, the Brewers had not said which relievers would be available for Game 2; in Game 1, according to the box score, Hall threw 4 pitches, Uribe 15, Ashby 26 and Megill 19.