The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium to complete a four-game sweep of the National League Championship Series. They reached their first World Series since 1982 after rallying from a 4-0 deficit in the second inning.
The series
The series was best-of-seven, and Milwaukee won it 4-0. According to MLB game records, the Brewers won Game 1 on Oct. 11 by 2-1, Game 2 on Oct. 12 by 7-4, Game 3 on Oct. 14 by 6-2 and Game 4 on Oct. 15 by 6-4.
A year ago the Dodgers swept the Brewers out of the NLCS. This time the Brewers swept them. MLB.com’s recap said Milwaukee was swept “away with relative ease” a year earlier, and opened with the line “For 363 days, the Brewers dreamed of a different ending. On Thursday night, they wrote it.” MLB.com says Milwaukee became “the first team to sweep the very same team that had eliminated them via sweep in the previous postseason.”
How the game turned
Los Angeles started fast. In the second inning, Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer to right center with two out, off Brewers pitcher Dustin May. NBC measured it at 428 feet. It made the score 4-0. Earlier in the inning, Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández had singled, and Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages’s single scored Tucker.
Milwaukee scored two in the fourth. Brewers second baseman Brice Turang walked and catcher William Contreras hit a ground-rule double, a ball that bounces over the fence and is worth two bases. First baseman Jake Bauers then hit another ground-rule double to right, which scored both runners and made it 4-2.
The fifth inning turned the game. Right fielder Sal Frelick walked, stole second and scored on third baseman David Hamilton’s single to center, cutting the lead to 4-3. Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow then left the game.
Evan Phillips came in and retired Jackson Chourio on a lineout. With Hamilton on second after a stolen base, Phillips intentionally walked Turang and walked Contreras to load the bases. Alex Vesia then walked Bauers, forcing in Hamilton to tie it 4-4. A forced-in run counts against the pitcher who put the runner on, here Glasnow, because Hamilton had singled against him.
Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell homered to center off Dodgers pitcher Tanner Scott in the sixth for a 5-4 lead. With two out in the ninth, Hamilton added a homer to right center off Dodgers pitcher Edwin Díaz to make it 6-4. It was Hamilton’s first home run of the postseason.
The pitchers
Milwaukee started the game with reliever Shane Drohan. He allowed a single to Tucker in the second before May took over. Teoscar Hernández singled against May, then Pages’s single against May scored Tucker, a run charged to Drohan, and Ohtani’s homer followed.
JoJo Romero pitched two scoreless innings and got the win. Aaron Ashby then pitched the last three innings, allowing two hits and no runs, with three strikeouts. He earned the save by getting the final nine outs, which MLB.com’s highlight text calls a nine-out save.
Glasnow gave up four runs on three hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six in 79 pitches. Phillips and Vesia each recorded one out, and each walked batters in the fifth. Scott took the loss after allowing the go-ahead homer. Díaz pitched the last three innings for Los Angeles and allowed one run.
Bauers named MVP
Bauers finished the game 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk. He was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player, according to MLB.com.
Hamilton had two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Ohtani went 1-for-4 with three RBIs and three strikeouts for the Dodgers.
What the sweep means
The pennant is the Brewers’ first in the National League. MLB.com explains that in 1982 they won theirs as an American League team. MLB.com says they will now chase “their first World Series title,” and NBC reports that the franchise has never won an MLB title.
For the Dodgers, the loss ends a run at a third straight title. NBC notes that they entered the postseason as two-time defending champions. A third straight title would have put the Dodgers alongside the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics, the only other teams to have won three in a row, NBC says.
NBC adds that the Brewers led MLB with 103 wins in the regular season. It says the bullpen helped win Games 1 and 2.
MLB.com says Milwaukee will host the Fall Classic next week. NBC says Game 1 is Friday, Oct. 23 in Milwaukee, and CBS lists it on Fox.
What they said
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said the Dodgers may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but the Brewers have a bunch of gamers, and that the gamers won this week.
Christian Yelich spoke on the Fox broadcast. “We’re just happy for our fans and everybody that has been part of this organization and stuck with us over the years,” he said.
Mitchell, also on the Fox broadcast, said: “It’s absolutely surreal.”
What is not known
NBC and MLB.com do not say why Glasnow was removed after 4 1/3 innings. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also spoke after the game; MLB.com’s video of his comments is titled “Those guys played flawless.”
What comes next
The World Series opponent is not yet decided. As of Thursday night’s reports, the Cleveland Guardians led the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in the American League Championship Series. ALCS Game 4 is on Friday in Cleveland. Fox Sports lists a 6 p.m. Eastern start (ESPN’s reported time differs and it mentions possible rain).