Update, Oct. 16, 2026: The Brewers swept the series. They won Game 4 on Thursday, Oct. 15, 6-4 at Dodger Stadium, to win the NLCS 4-0 and reach the World Series for the first time since 1982, according to MLB.com. The World Series opens Friday, Oct. 23, at American Family Field against the winner of the American League Championship Series. This article was written after Game 3.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium to take a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series, one win from the World Series. Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning, an inning after Will Smith’s two-run double in the sixth had put the Dodgers ahead.
What a 3-0 lead means
The NLCS is a best-of-seven series. According to MLB.com, 42 teams have fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series. Thirty-two of them lost by sweep (four straight losses), only two forced a Game 7, and only the 2004 Red Sox won the series.
An Associated Press report carried by WBAY said the Dodgers have been down 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series only once before, in the 1966 World Series. The same report said the Brewers had never beaten the Dodgers in three previous postseason series, and that last year’s NLCS went to the Dodgers in four games.
How the game turned
Jackson Chourio opened the game with a leadoff home run against Blake Snell, and Milwaukee led 1-0 until the sixth inning.
Brewers starter Robert Gasser had thrown five scoreless innings. In the sixth, reliever Abner Uribe walked Teoscar Hernández, the Dodgers’ left fielder, and Kyle Tucker. Max Muncy, sent up as a pinch-hitter (a substitute batter), struck out. Uribe then walked Shohei Ohtani, loading the bases, and Smith doubled to center field, scoring Hernández and Tucker. Both runs were charged to Uribe.
DL Hall came in and kept Ohtani, who had stopped at third base, from scoring, so the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead into the seventh.
The seventh inning
Andrew Vaughn walked against Snell, and Christian Yelich went in as a pinch-runner (a substitute who runs for a teammate). Bauers then came to the plate. By MLB.com’s account, he fouled off pitches one after another and saw 11 pitches from Snell before the at-bat ended in a two-run homer to right field. That put the Brewers ahead 3-2.
Mitchell followed with a home run to right center field, and the Brewers led 4-2. The two homers traveled a combined 840 feet, according to MLB.com. Snell gave up both home runs in the seventh after Vaughn’s walk and left the game in that inning. His final line was 6.0 innings, four hits, four runs, three home runs, two walks and nine strikeouts on 101 pitches.
“Hat’s off to him,” Snell said. “I mean, what an at-bat. I threw everything I had.”
Late runs and the finish
Brice Turang scored in the eighth on a wild pitch (a pitch the catcher cannot reasonably handle, which lets a runner advance) by Justin Wrobleski, who had just replaced Roki Sasaki, to make it 5-2. In the ninth, Cooper Pratt singled and stole second base. The Dodgers challenged the call on the tag play, and it was upheld. Joey Ortiz then singled him home for the 6-2 final. Pratt went 3-for-4.
Trevor Megill, who pitched 1 1/3 innings, struck out Mookie Betts on a foul tip for the last out and earned his fourth save of the postseason, a save being the credit a pitcher gets for finishing a close win. Hall, who threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, got the win.
The Brewers finished with nine hits and the Dodgers with five. The Dodgers left eight runners on base. According to the AP report, Los Angeles has not homered in the series.
What the players and managers said
Bauers said of Chourio’s leadoff homer: “It kind of set the tone for the day,” Bauers said, “and let everyone know that we’re here to win this game.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy pointed to the team’s resilience. “I think it’s what it’s all about in the game — to be that locked in that you respond every time,” Murphy said. “It’s resiliency. It’s a belief. It’s all those things. Our guys have done it.”
Dodgers center fielder Kiké Hernández said after the game: “We didn’t expect to be in this position,” Hernández said. “This one sucks. We’ve got to find a way to turn the page quick, because tomorrow is going to be here pretty fast. If we lose, we’re done.”
MLB.com noted that this was the Brewers’ fifth comeback win in their first seven postseason games, the most by any team in its first seven postseason games, tied with the 1996 Yankees and 1980 Phillies, both of whom went on to win the title. The Dodgers are seeking a third straight World Series title.
What is not known yet
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, citing a team source, reported that the Brewers plan to start rookie left-hander Shane Drohan in Game 4, with Dustin May expected to follow in relief. That is a report, not a team announcement, and it does not name a Dodgers starter. No injury or lineup news from after the game is included here.
What comes next
Game 4 was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15, at Dodger Stadium; the Brewers won it and the series, as the update above says.